Railroad industry selects winners of environmental stewardship awards

[April 28, 2012]  WASHINGTON -- The Association of American Railroads announced this week that Michael Iden, a Union Pacific employee from Chicago, has been awarded the 2012 John H. Chafee Environmental Excellence Award. U.S. Sen. Tom Udall, D-N.M., also was honored with the Chafee award. Named after the late senator from Rhode Island -- a strong advocate for conservation and environmental causes who appreciated the environmental advantages of rail transportation -- the awards recognize people who have demonstrated the highest level of environmental stewardship.

"Railroads and their employees strive every day to be excellent stewards of our nation's environment. Our 2012 Chaffee award winners both embody the same dedication, and I am pleased to bestow on them the industry's top environmental honors today," said Edward R. Hamberger, president and CEO of the Association of American Railroads, in the announcement on Wednesday.

In his home state of New Mexico, Udall worked for passage of some of the state's first environmental laws. He has continued that work in Washington by promoting policies to protect natural resources, improve air quality and clean up hazardous waste.

Iden, a 38-year veteran of the railroad industry and general director of car and locomotive engineering at Union Pacific, has helped pioneer over 40 new emissions reduction technologies, from battery technology in locomotives to reducing friction on rails to reducing aerodynamic drag from double-stack trains. He has played a key role in the development of emissions reduction technologies like the "GenSet" low-emissions locomotives, which at UP have reduced fuel consumption by 5.8 million gallons, as well as reducing greenhouse gas emissions by 1,670 tons of nitrogen oxides, 55 tons of particulate matter and 65,500 tons of carbon dioxide. Testing and simulations he developed have led to a 20 percent improvement over five years in locomotive efficiency on heavy coal trains, while other work he did with AC locomotives and distributed power improved efficiency an additional 20 percent.

In addition to Iden, five other railroaders were nominated for the award. Below is a brief description of the nominees, with in-depth profiles available on the Association of American Railroads website.

• Keith Ebbeskotte is a work equipment plant manager with CSX Transportation in Richmond, Va. A 37-year veteran of the railroad industry, he reduced CSX's carbon and emissions footprint through the introduction of Tier 3 engines in all new and rebuilt equipment. He also reduced hazardous waste at the facility and developed programs to recycle 5,000 gallons of diesel fuel, 11,000 gallons of hydraulic oil, 675 gallons of engine oil, 1,000 gallons of antifreeze and more than 100 batteries annually.

• Michael Hartung is a mechanical supervisor with Norfolk Southern Railway in Roanoke, Va. In addition to his regular duties, he ensures the Norfolk Southern locomotive shop is in compliance with environmental and regulations. Hartung is a lead environmental trainer for employees and manages all wastes, air emissions, pollution prevention and petroleum storage. He also developed an environmental tracking program that has been used as a model for other shops, and he took a boiler maintainer course on his own initiative so he could perform repairs and environmental upgrades on the shop's steam boiler, making the boiler more reliable and his facility more productive.

• Robert Jones, a 35-year rail employee, is senior director of utilities management with Amtrak in Philadelphia, Pa. In 2010, he planned and implemented the shutdown of the central steam plant at Amtrak's Chicago Yard, reducing natural gas usage by 534,102 therms without sacrificing productivity. Jones recently led initiatives to implement energy-efficient lighting systems and to reduce natural gas usage systemwide, and he developed plans for Amtrak's first-ever energy reduction goal. His initiatives have saved 4.5 million therms of natural gas and 3.2 million kilowatt hours of electricity while cutting 49.3 million pounds of carbon dioxide.

• Jim "JP" Langan is signal supervisor with BNSF Railway in Kansas City, Kan. After joining BNSF in 2003, he noticed unusually large quantities of hydraulic fluid for skate retarders being purchased at his freight yard. Langan worked on his own time to identify the cause of a hydraulic fluid leak and designed a custom-made retrofit that sealed the leak point, improving efficiency and conserving fuel. He then designed a system tocollect hydraulic fluid from potential future leaks.

• Richard McFadyen is director of corporate facilities at Canadian National Railway in Montreal, Canada. A 35-year rail veteran, he implemented an energy management system across the CN network, making it possible to identify and manage problem areas in real time. McFadyen also initiated an energy review of all shops and introduced a lighting replacement effort to conserve electricity. McFadyen introduced the use of geothermal heating in buildings as well as carpets emitting reduced levels of volatile organic compounds.

[Text from news release received from Union Pacific]