Association of American Railroads announces award winners

The Association of American Railroads (AAR) presented several awards during its 28th Annual AAR and the Bureau of Explosives Hazmat Seminar that took place in Addison, Texas, the association announced Wednesday.

Awards that were given out included the Non-Accident Release (NAR) Grand Slam Award, the Holden-Proefrock Award (HPA), the Perfect Game Award and National Achievement Awards from TRANSCAER.

The Grand Slam Award is given to companies that have shown excellence in performance and safety. To be nominated for the award, the company must be recognized by four Class I railroads and they cannot have any NARs in the prior calendar year. CF Industries Holdings Inc., Celanese Corp., Keyera Corp., Koopers Inc. and Pembina were recognized at the ceremony.

The Perfect Game Award has similar eligibility requirements as the Grand Slam Award but adds that the company did not have an NAR in the prior calendar year on rail shipments going to and from consignees. Canexus Corp.; Centennial Energy, LLC.; Aux Sable Liquid Products LP; Linde Group; Marathon Petroleum Corp.; Styrolution America, LLC., and NOVA Chemical Corp. received the award.

The HPA award recognizes lifetime achievement in the area of hazardous material safety an management on railways. This award was given to Romano DeSimone of CSX Transportation. He has worked with railroads for 30 years and during that time he educated first response personnel, contributing commodity specific training, tank car enhancements, preparedness and developing connections with local emergency management personnel.

The TRANSCAER National Achievement Award recognizes railways that made significant effort in hazardous material training. Awardees included BNSF Railway Co. and CSX Transportation.