July 16, 2014
Norfolk Southern's
corporate sustainability efforts benefit customers, shareholders, consumers, and
communities
NORFOLK, VA. -
Norfolk Southern Corporation details the railroad's ongoing efforts to
contribute to a cleaner environment, a healthier economy, and stronger
communities in its latest "Connections" sustainability report.
"From our earliest beginnings, our
commitment always has been to deliver customers' freight safely, efficiently,
and economically, and in doing so to provide fair returns to our shareholders
and a desirable workplace for employees," said CEO Wick Moorman. "Today we
understand that everything we do must respect the planet. We understand that
environmental sustainability is smart business."
The company's seventh annual
sustainability report discloses Norfolk Southern's environmental, economic, and
social impacts to help stakeholders assess the railroad's performance in
corporate responsibility. Key environmental performance areas covered include
locomotive fuel efficiency and emissions, energy use, land and land
conservation, waste management, and water conservation.
"Norfolk Southern strives for
excellence in environmental stewardship, and our uncompromising commitment to
sustainability is supported and leveraged by employees across our network," said
Blair Wimbush, vice president real estate and corporate sustainability officer.
"We are working hard to integrate sustainability into all aspects of operations,
building on successes achieved over the past seven years."
Among 2013 NS
achievements highlighted in the report:
Environmental
Performance
· Reached nearly 79 percent of a
five-year goal launched in 2010 to reduce the company's greenhouse gas emissions
by 10 percent per revenue ton-mile of freight.
· Saved an estimated 10 million
gallons of locomotive diesel fuel and avoided around 110,500 metric tons of GHG
emissions through LEADER train-handling technology.
· Completed 65 percent of a
five-year, $5.6 million partnership begun in 2011 with GreenTrees® to reforest
10,000 acres in the Mississippi Delta, part of NS' Trees and Trains carbon
mitigation initiative.
· Collaborated with The Nature
Conservancy in support of the largest ever longleaf pine reforestation effort in
Virginia.
Economic
Performance
· Helped locate 67 new industries
and expand 25 existing businesses, representing customer investment of $2.3
billion, 3,100 new customer jobs, and more than 136,000 new carloads of rail
business.
· Partnered with the South Carolina
Ports Authority to make intermodal service available to a new inland port in
Greer, S.C., resulting in rail business that will remove at least 20,000 trucks
annually from I-26.
· Opened regional intermodal
facilities at Charlotte, N.C., and Greencastle, Pa., expanding freight rail
capacity on the company's Crescent Corridor network and mitigating truck-traffic
congestion on interstate highways from New Orleans, La., to northern New
Jersey.
Social
Performance
· Reduced serious workplace injuries
by more than 5 percent.
· Hired more than 1,000 employees.
· Distributed charitable donations
of $12.8 million through combined Norfolk Southern Foundation and corporate
giving, including grants to food banks, homeless shelters, free medical clinics,
and environmental, cultural arts, and educational organizations.
Norfolk Southern
Corporation
(NYSE: NSC) is one of the nation's premier transportation companies. Its Norfolk
Southern Railway Company subsidiary operates approximately 20,000 route miles in 22 states and the District of
Columbia, serves every major container port in the eastern United States, and
provides efficient connections to other rail carriers. Norfolk Southern operates
the most extensive intermodal network in the East and is a major transporter of
coal, automotive, and industrial products.
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contacts: