(The following editorial, "CSX finds a green way," appeared Dec. 8, 2008, in the Cumberland, Md., Times-News.)
Who among us, when confronted with our heating bills, wouldnt like to find a way cut them or maybe weve tried and failed? How many have thought they solved the problem with a new pellet stove, only to see the price of pellets soar ... if they could even be found to buy?
In 2007, CSX Transportation literally solved two problems at once, saving $600,000 in heating costs at its Maryland operations by heating its shop with waste oil from diesel locomotives that had to be removed and disposed of.
CSX was generating 18,000 gallons of waste oil each week. Either someone was paid to haul it away or, if it was good enough to reuse, it was sold for a minimum price. A better solution had to be found and it was. The local repair shop contains nearly 9.5 million cubic feet of space and had been heated with natural gas, the price of which keeps going up.
A side benefit of all this can readily be appreciated by those who remember when the railroad industry was one of the dirtiest. When the wind blew the wrong way and deposited a layer of dirt and soot from the steam engines in the railroad yard, wed likely just shrug and say, Its money. Wherever the railroad went, it paid a lot of salaries.
Now, CSX is becoming green. Its found an efficient way to satisfactorily dispose of a polluting substance, and it is working to refine and clean up the system that does it.
Its always good to see ingenuity and resourcefulness put to work and be rewarded.
The auto service shop that changes my oil saves the old oil and burns it to heat the building.
When I was a kid working in a gas station there was a small tank truck that pumped the used oil from our tank. Paid us something--pennies a gallon I believe............................wes
