Bailey of CSX wins AAR’s Chafee award for environmental excellence

Written by Stuart Chirls, senior editor, Railway Age
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Charles Bailey of CSX receives the 2017 John H. Chafee Environmental Excellence Award from AAR President and CEO Edward R. Hamberger.

Charles Bailey, director of design and construction Engineering for CSX Transportation, has been awarded the 2017 John H. Chafee Environmental Excellence Award by the Association of American Railroads (AAR).  

 

Named in honor of the late Rhode Island senator, a strong advocate for sustainability and the environmental benefits of rail transportation, the annual award recognizes a railroad employee who has demonstrated the highest level of environmental stewardship in the previous year.

“Now more than ever, private industries must step up and do all they can to preserve the environment for future generations,” said AAR President and Chief Executive Edward R. Hamberger. “Railroads are at the forefront of sustainable freight transportation, protecting the environment and efficiently delivering nearly half of the goods this country relies on. Charles Bailey’s hands-on leadership has helped build and extend a legacy of stewardship and responsibility at CSX.”

Bailey has developed a culture at CSX Transportation where design and construction methodologies benefit both the environment and the railroad. Bailey leads the construction engineering team on the construction of capacity improvement, clearance improvement, industrial development and outside party projects with the U.S. Department of Transportation.

His collaborative approach with environmental teams has had a significant impact on the environmental performance of CSX.

Last year marked the 13th year that new siding projects were fully compliant and received no Notice of Violations (NOVs) from regulatory agencies.

By modifying the design on just two projects, he was able to reduce the amount of excavated rock, soil and debris going to landfills by over 24,000 cubic yards, enough to cover a football field in 14.5 feet of soil.

Bailey’s efforts have helped protect several endangered plant and animal species including the Northern Long-Eared Bat in Indiana and the Gopher Tortoise in Florida.

Also nominated were Stephen Cheney, Director of the Engineering Environmental program at Union Pacific; Kimia Khatami, Director of Customer Service at Pacific Harbor Line, and

Todd Nicholson, General Director of the Strategic Sourcing and Supply team at BNSF Railway.

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