Omaha, NB and Midland, MI - April 01, 2008
A safety train equipped with a classroom and training center on rails will be rolling into rail yards along the Mississippi River corridor over the next few weeks to provide free railroad and chemical transportation training to local firefighters and other emergency response personnel. The 2008 TRANSCAER Training Tour, presented by Union Pacific Railroad (UP) and The Dow Chemical Company (Dow), will bring chemical and rail industry professionals to 10 communities along the companies’ shared transportation routes to provide hands-on training, beginning in Alexandria, La., on April 9 and concluding in Chicago, Ill., on May 8.
TRANSCAER, an acronym for Transportation Community Awareness and Emergency Response, is the voluntary national outreach consortium of chemical-related companies, carrier/transport companies and industry associations formed 22 years ago as part of a shared commitment to the safe and secure transportation of chemical materials.
“TRANSCAER is an important extension of our industries’ shared commitment to the security and safety of the many people and communities we touch,” said Rollie Shook, Emergency Services and Security, The Dow Chemical Company, and the incoming Chairman of the National TRANSCAER Task Group. “This program and the resources it makes available are intended to help safeguard the public by providing first responders with the information and training they need to effectively respond in the unlikely event of a chemical transportation incident.”
Emergency responders who register for local tour events will participate in a variety of classroom and simulated activities with five distinct modules, focused on railroad equipment training, hazardous material training and advanced training with interactive emergency response drills.
“Emergency responders play a truly invaluable role in protecting the public’s safety and security,” said Lou Wagner, General Director, Chemical Transportation Safety, Union Pacific Railroad. “Through TRANSCAER, these men and women have the opportunity to learn firsthand from chemical and rail transportation experts about the safe movement of chemicals through their communities.”
Following the launch event in Alexandria on April 9, the tour will travel north making scheduled stops in Monroe, La.; Pine Bluff and Little Rock, Ark.; Poplar Bluff, Mo.; and five stops in Illinois, including West Frankfort, Salem, Villa Grove and two locations in Chicago. The tour ends at the West Chicago Yard location on May 8. This tour follows the 2007 UP/Dow TRANSCAER Training Tour, which trained more than 1,000 emergency responders in California, Texas and the Gulf Coast region.
TRANSCAER is one of eight strategic goals Dow and UP are jointly addressing, as outlined in a memorandum of cooperation established in 2007. For Dow, TRANSCAER also is an integral part of the Company’s long-standing commitment to local protection of human health and the environment, one of the foundational tenets of Dow’s 2015 Sustainability Goals, announced in 2006.
“A focus on the security and safety of our sites, products, and communities – the places where we live and work – has always been deeply embedded in our company’s culture and our business processes,” said Shook. “TRANSCAER is simply one of many expressions of that commitment.”
Additional participants donating time and resources to the TRANSCAER Training Tour include the Firefighers Education and Training Foundation and CHEMTREC®, the Chemical Transportation Emergency Center. More information about the TRANSCAER Training Tour, including schedule, registration and training details, can be found at http://www.dow.com/transcaertours.
About TRANSCAER
TRANSCAER® (Transportation Community Awareness and Emergency Response) is a voluntary national outreach effort that focuses on assisting communities to prepare for and respond to a possible hazardous material transportation incident. TRANSCAER® members consist of volunteer representatives from the chemical manufacturing, transportation, distributor, and emergency response industries, as well as the government. The 2008 training tour campaign is part of a long-term commitment by Dow and Union Pacific to provide improved community awareness and preparedness along chemical transportation routes, in coordination with national, regional and state TRANSCAER programs. More information about TRANSCAER can be found at http://www.transcaer.org.
About Union Pacific
Union Pacific Corporation owns one of America’s leading transportation companies. Its principal operating company, Union Pacific Railroad, links 23 states in the western two-thirds of the country and serves the fastest-growing U.S. population centers. Union Pacific’s diversified business mix includes Agricultural Products, Automotive, Chemicals, Energy, Industrial Products and Intermodal. The railroad offers competitive long-haul routes from all major West Coast and Gulf Coast ports to eastern gateways. Union Pacific connects with Canada’s rail systems and is the only railroad serving all six major gateways to Mexico, making it North America’s premier rail franchise. Union Pacific is an active partner in the American Chemistry Council’s Responsible Care Program.
About Dow
For Editorial Information:
Allison France
The Dow Chemical Company
(989) 636-0341
James Barnes
Union Pacific Railroad
(402) 544-3560
jebarnes@up.com
