CSX employee Chatrathi receives AAR environmental award

The Association of American Railroads has honored CSX Corp. employee Raghu Chatrathi with the 2015 North American Environmental Employee Excellence Award, the rail industry's highest honor for environmental professionals.

Chatrathi is CSX's director of environmental remediation, engineering and advanced technology. He is the seventh CSX employee to receive the honor in the past 14 years, CSX officials said in a press release.

"Raghu's ability to turn challenging problems into process-driven solutions and his unfailing commitment to constant improvement lead his colleagues to higher and higher measures of success — and ultimately help CSX minimize its environmental footprint," said Skip Elliott, CSX vice president of public safety, health and environmental footprint.

During his career, Chatrathi has led many environmental remediation, sustainability, and compliance programs at CSX. His accomplishments include:
• transforming a contaminated property in Tampa, Fla., into a location that recently achieved the Wildlife Habitat Council's 'Wildlife at Work' certification;
• conducting a systemwide study of renewable energy use, the results of which led to a project that saved the CO2 emissions equivalent of burning 4,000 gallons of diesel fuel each year;
• developing formulas behind the rail industry's first Carbon Calculator, an online tool that tallies the emissions avoided by converting shipments to rail; and
• establishing environmental protocols for CSX's Rails-to-Trails conversion program, including directly working on 150 miles of community trails.

Chatrathi is the third CSX employee to be recognized with the industry’s top environmental awards this year.