Railroad Group Honors CSX Engineer, Other Rail Workers for Hazmat Work

Michael Bethge, a CSX locomotive engineer, recently won the railroad industry's highest environmental award for his work in the safe transport of hazardous materials (hazmats) by rail.

Bethge, a fourth-generation railroader from Buffalo, received the North American Railroad Employee Environmental Excellence Award from the Association of American Railroads (AAR).

"Railroads have a strong environmental record," Edward R. Hamberger, president and chief executive officer of the AAR, said, adding that locomotives use less fuel and create fewer emissions that enter the atmosphere than other forms of land transportation. "But beyond that, we are blessed with workers who fervently believe in preserving and improving the environment, . . . workers who demonstrate this dedication every day at their jobs and every day in the ways they live their lives.

According to CSX and AAR, Bethge prepared a program to be used as a guide during the first 15 minutes of a hazmat emergency. He also coordinated a hazmat drill for the Cortland, NY, area and assembled a response team that included seven fire departments, and the Binghamton and Ithaca hazmat teams.

Bethge received commendations from the Governor's Traffic Safety Committee, politicians and local fire chiefs.

He is also a member of the Erie County Hazardous Materials Response Team, a volunteer firefighter and has provided hazmat training for another railroad.

The AAR also presented three other railroad workers with awards for their work with the environment.

They are: Jay Schultz, a road manager for Canadian Pacific Railway in Thief River Falls, MN; Wesley England, a sheet-metal worker with Burlington Northern Santa Fe at the Argentine Yard in Kansas City, KS; and Audrey Butler, a materials supervisor for Union Pacific in Pocatello, Idaho.

The North American Employee Environmental Excellence Award was established in 1996 and is awarded annually.