OMAHA, Neb. — Union Pacific Railroad has earned the prestigious TRANSCAER National Achievement Award for the third consecutive year. The award recognizes extraordinary achievement in support of the TRANSCAER (Transportation Community Awareness and Emergency Response) initiative. TRANSCAER is the voluntary national outreach effort to help communities prepare for and respond to a possible hazardous material transportation incident.
In 2009, Union Pacific organized or assisted with multiple events that led to training more than 4,800 emergency responders. Overall, Union Pacific participated in nearly 160 TRANSCAER or TRANSCAER-related events. Union Pacific’s most significant commitments in 2009 included ethanol training tours in Illinois and Missouri, four 40-hour tank car safety courses, and a three-day short line safety conference. Union Pacific also coordinated 24 drills to assist in community preparedness.
“”Rail is the safest form of freight transportation and everyone at Union Pacific understands our obligation under federal law to transport chemicals and hazardous materials,” said Bob Grimaila, Union Pacific vice president – Safety, Security and Environment. “We take that responsibility seriously and we work with our communities to continuously enhance our safety efforts in four key areas: prevention, preparedness, response and recovery.”
“We are honored to once again be recognized by our peers for this award,” said Diane Duren, Union Pacific vice president and general manager – Chemicals. “We invest heavily in time and money to improve transportation safety and take seriously our responsibility to transport our customers’ hazardous material. We remain committed to helping prepare emergency responders for a possible incident and to safely transporting these products.”
Founded in 1986 by Union Pacific and The Dow Chemical Company, TRANSCAER has grown to include other railroads and chemical producers and distributors, trucking companies, emergency response contractors and trade associations and counts the U.S. Department of Energy, Environmental Management Office of Transportation as a partner.
