BNSF News

Jim Langan Honored as Chafee Environmental Award Nominee

2012-04-30

Jim Langan, signal supervisor at Argentine yard in Kansas City, was honored as BNSF's nominee for the John H. Chafee Environmental Excellence Award.

Chafee, the late Rhode Island senator, was a proponent for conservation and environmental causes, and the award recognizes a railroad employee who demonstrated a high level of environmental stewardship the previous year.

Langan was nominated for redesigning the high-pressure hydraulic connection to in-service operative skate retarders at Argentine Yard. This re-engineering eliminated the potential for a hydraulic fluid leak from a potential leak point and added a safety reclamation system to collect fluid from other potential operative skate retarder failures from entering the environment.

"The redesigned system increases reliability, eliminates fluid leaks, reduces fluid consumption and reduces maintenance time while increasing life expectancy," said Jim LeVere, assistant vice president, Signal. "I am proud of Jim's efforts help protect the environment and improve BNSF's efficiency. Innovation like Jim's is the hallmark of BNSF."

About the photo: Jim Langan (right) shows the Chafee Award recognition he received to David Seep, director, Evironmental Operations, following the ceremony on April 25 at the Capitol.

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