PPG earns award for safe rail shipment of hazardous chemicals

Jeff Barker, shipping area supervisor at Lake Charles (right), represented PPG in accepting the Product Stewardship Award from George Duggan, BNSF vice president, industrial products sales.

April 28, 2005 - PPG’s chemicals businesses have earned a “Product Stewardship Award” from BNSF Railway Company for excellence in handling and transporting hazardous chemicals by rail in 2004. PPG has earned the award seven of the eight years it has been presented.

PPG was among 50 award winners that successfully transported a minimum of 500 loaded tank cars of hazardous materials during the past year and worked with customers to ensure zero non-accident releases (releases not caused by a derailment or collision). The winners were also noted for implementing guidelines of the American Chemistry Council’s Responsible Care initiative.

“We’re committed to the principles of Responsible Care and to the ‘zero release’ mandate, which means no leaky valves or fittings, and no release of any type,” said Bill Gallagher, PPG’s manager of hazardous material transportation.

PPG made more than 22,000 rail shipments totaling more than 2 million tons of chemicals last year, he said, adding that the company owns or leases about 2,100 tank and hopper cars in North America for the transportation of chemicals.

“The credit for this great safety achievement goes to each of our chemicals plant employees who load our rail cars with chemical product, and keep those cars maintained and prepared,” Gallagher said.

“We have a comprehensive safety and training program, but we depend on employees’ day-in-day-out attention to detail to ensure ongoing safety.”

BNSF, a subsidiary of Burlington Northern Santa Fe Corporation, operates one of the largest railroad networks in North America, with about 32,000 route miles in 28 states and two Canadian provinces.