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10/20/2020
The Association of American Railroads (AAR) yesterday announced the 2020 recipient of the Holden-Proefrock Award and the 2019 Non-Accident Release (NAR) Grand Slam Awards, which are given annually to individuals, shippers and railroads operating in hazardous material fields.
Ron Gould, a senior hazardous materials response manager, is the 2020 Holden-Proefrock Award recipient. With 45 years of rail experience, Gould has supported the industry's response to railroad emergencies as a contractor in nearly every territory of North America, AAR officials said in a press release.
Gould has assisted in training first responders, railroad employees and contractors in areas from emergency response to railroad operations. He has been called on to coordinate response operations for countless incidents over the years.
During Gould's time in hazardous materials response, he has played a key role in the response and cleanup of derailments along the East Coast, including the 2001 Howard Street derailment in Baltimore, and the 2015 train derailment in Mount Carbon, West Virginia.
The Holden-Proefrock Award is named after Roy Holden, a former AAR employee and an innovator in tank car design and safety, and Art Proefrock, a former Hulcher Emergency Services employee who pioneered haz-mat transportation emergency response.
Meanwhile, the NAR Grand Slam Award is presented annually to companies that are "exemplary" shippers of hazardous materials, AAR officials said. A winner must have been recognized by at least four Class Is and have had zero non-accident releases involving their shipments the previous calendar year. A hazardous materials non-accident release is an unintentional haz-mat release while in transportation, but not involving an accident.
This year, AAR presented the Grand Slam to the following 14 companies: ADM, The Andersons Inc., Cenovus Energy Marketing Services Ltd., the Chemours Co., Cornerstone Chemical Co., Elbow River Marketing Ltd., ERCO Worldwide, ExxonMobil, HJ Baker Sulphur LLC, Husky Energy Inc., Kemira, Keyera Energy Inc., Methanex Methanol Co. LLC and NGL Supply Co. Ltd.