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The National Transportation Community Awareness and Emergency Response (TRANSCAER®) Task Group recently named BNSF Railway Co., Norfolk Southern Corp., The Dow Chemical Co. and Union Pacific Railroad as winners of 2008 TRANSCAER National Achievement Awards.

The awards recognize the companies’ efforts last year to help communities prepare for and respond to potential hazardous-materials transportation incidents. The recipients trained more than 13,000 first responders nationwide last year via various hands-on activities, and emergency planning assistance and community drills and exercises.

BNSF trained more than 4,500 first responders in 17 states and sponsored more than 200 TRANSCAER events; NS held TRANSCAER exercises in 14 states and 164 cities, and trained more than 4,354 emergency responders; Dow sponsored two TRANSCAER tours that trained more than 1,200 participants; and UP trained more than 3,035 emergency responders in 172 classes and participated in more than 117 TRANSCAER-related events.

TRANSCAER also presented a 2008 Regional Achievement Award to Pennsylvania TRANSCAER and the Chairman’s Award to Robert Blake of Bayer Corp., John O’Neill of Firefighters Education &Training Foundation, and Donna Lepik of TRANSCAER. In addition, UP’s Louis Wagner received the Distinguished Service Award.

The winners will receive their awards at the 22nd Annual Association of American Railroads (AAR) and Bureau of Explosives Hazardous Materials Seminar to be held in Kansas City, Mo., on May 19. TRANSCAER is sponsored by the AAR, American Chemistry Council, Renewable Fuels Association, CHEMTREC®, The Chlorine Institute Inc., National Association of Chemical Distributors and National Tank Truck Carriers Inc.

Meanwhile, CSX Transportation announced 19 winners of its first-ever Environmental Awards, which recognize customers that reduced carbon emissions by shipping their freight on the railroad. Together, the winners prevented 1.2 million tons of carbon emissions by shipping via rail instead of the highway, CSXT said.

The winners are: American Rock Salt L.L.C.; Archer Daniels Midland Co.; Conrad Yelvington Distributors Inc.; EnviroSolutions Inc.; Exxon Mobil Co.; GE Energy; General Motors Corp.; International Commodities and Export Corp.; International Paper Co.; Mosaic Fertilizer L.L.C.; Norbord Industries Inc.; Nucor Corp.; Poet Ethanol Products; Railex L.L.C.; Republic Services Inc.; Solvay Chemicals Inc.; Subaru of America Inc.; Tropicana Products Inc.; and Tube City IMS L.L.C.