CSX Employee Wins Rail's Highest Honor For Environmental Professionals

JACKSONVILLE, Fla., Oct. 27, 2015 /PRNewswire/ -- CSX employee Raghu Chatrathi today received the 2015 North American Environmental Employee Excellence Award from the Association of American Railroads (AAR), the highest honor for industry environmental professionals. Chatrathi, the director of environmental remediation, engineering and advanced technology, is the seventh CSX employee to receive this honor in the last 14 years.

"Raghu embodies the dedication to excellence and innovative thinking that are so critical to both environmental stewardship and team leadership," said Skip Elliott, vice president of public safety, health and environment. "Raghu's ability to turn challenging problems into process-driven solutions and his unfailing commitment to constant improvement lead his colleagues to higher and higher measures of success – and ultimately help CSX minimize its environmental footprint."  

Over the course of his career, Chatrathi has led many environmental remediation, sustainability, and compliance programs at CSX, and he has designed processes and protocols for a variety of environmental stewardship initiatives. His accomplishments include:  

• Transforming a contaminated property in Tampa, Florida, into a location that recently achieved the Wildlife Habitat Council's "Wildlife at Work" certification.
• Conducting a system-wide study of renewable energy use, the results of which led to a project that saved the CO2 emissions equivalent of burning 4,000 gallons of diesel fuel each year.
• Developing formulas behind the rail industry's first Carbon Calculator, an online tool that tallies the emissions avoided by converting shipments to rail.
• Establishing environmental protocols for CSX's "Rails-to-Trails" conversion program, including directly working on 150 miles of community trails.

Chatrathi is the third CSX employee to be recognized with the industry's top environmental awards this year. In May, CSX's Romano DeSimone received the AAR's Holden-Proefrock Award for his career contributions to the safe transportation of hazardous materials by rail.  Additionally, AAR recognized CSX employee Suneil Kuthiala with the John H. Chafee Environmental Excellence Award for his outstanding environmental leadership, especially in the area of fuel efficiency.

About CSX

CSX, based in Jacksonville, Florida, is a premier transportation company.  It provides rail, intermodal and rail-to-truck transload services and solutions to customers across a broad array of markets, including energy, industrial, construction, agricultural, and consumer products.  For nearly 190 years, CSX has played a critical role in the nation's economic expansion and industrial development.  Its network connects every major metropolitan area in the eastern United States, where nearly two-thirds of the nation's population resides.  It also links more than 240 short-line railroads and more than 70 ocean, river and lake ports with major population centers and farming towns alike.  More information about CSX Corporation and its subsidiaries is available at www.csx.com.  Like us on Facebook (http://www.facebook.com/OfficialCSX) and follow us on Twitter (http://twitter.com/CSX).

SOURCE CSX

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