Editing Union Pacific Railroad (section)

==Environmental record==
In Eugene, Oregon, where pollution from a century-old [[rail yard]] has been seeping into groundwater, the UP and the Oregon Department of Environmental Quality launched a study of ground contamination in 2008. The pollutants are mostly petroleum [[hydrocarbon]]s, industrial solvents, and metals.<ref>{{Cite web |title=Union Pacific Railyard Cleanup, Eugene |url=http://www.deq.state.or.us/lq/cu/wr/UPRREugene/index.htm |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20080526051327/http://www.deq.state.or.us/lq/cu/wr/uprreugene/index.htm |archive-date=May 26, 2008 |access-date=March 29, 2009 |publisher=Oregon Department of Environmental Quality}}</ref>

In 2007, Union Pacific Railroad worked with the [[US EPA]] to develop a way to reduce locomotive exhaust emissions. They discovered that adding an oxidation catalyst filtering canister to the diesel engine's exhaust manifold and using [[Ultra-low-sulfur diesel|ultra-low-sulfur diesel fuel]] would reduce particulate emissions by about half, unburned hydrocarbons by 38&nbsp;percent, and carbon monoxide by 82&nbsp;percent.<ref>{{Cite web |date=January 18, 2007 |title=Union Pacific Tests Exhaust Catalyst on Locomotives |url=http://www.environmentalleader.com/2007/01/18/union-pacific-tests-exhaust-catalyst-on-locomotives/ |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20081009013218/http://www.environmentalleader.com/2007/01/18/union-pacific-tests-exhaust-catalyst-on-locomotives/ |archive-date=October 9, 2008 |access-date=May 8, 2008 |website=Environmental Leader}}</ref>

The company's Fuel Master program rewards locomotive engineers who save the most [[fuel]] each month. The program has saved the company millions of dollars, much of which has been returned to the engineers. In 2006, the program's founder, Wayne Kennedy, received the John H. Chafee Environmental Award, and the program was recognized by Transportation Secretary [[Norman Mineta]].<ref>{{Cite web |title=Green Car Congress: DOT Secretary Commends Union Pacific's Conservation Program, Says US Needs to Go on Energy Diet |url=http://www.greencarcongress.com/2006/02/dot_secretary_c.html |access-date=October 29, 2015 |website=GreenCarCongress.com |publisher=BioAge Media}}</ref>

In January 2018, a former waste water operator at Union Pacific Albina Yard in [[Portland, Oregon]], employed by the railroad's contractor [[Mott MacDonald]] negligently released thousands of gallons of oil into the environment. The operator was distracted by a cell phone and allowed the tank to overflow for over an hour. An engineering firm hired by Union Pacific estimates 1,800 U.S. Gallons (6,813.741 L) of it was released into nearby [[Willamette River]], not including the spill that was captured by the containment booms. Employees of [[United States Environmental Protection Agency]] who were working at facilities nearby placed booms to contain the oil spill. Federal prosecutors have charged the operator Robert LaRue Webb II with violation of the [[Clean Water Act]] for releasing the oil into the environment. Webb pleaded guilty in August 2019,<ref>{{Cite web |date=August 5, 2019 |title=Portland Man Pleads Guilty to Clean Water Act Violation for Discharging Oil into Willamette River |url=https://www.justice.gov/usao-or/pr/portland-man-pleads-guilty-clean-water-act-violation-discharging-oil-willamette-river |access-date=November 4, 2019 |website=Department of Justice - U.S. Attorney's Office}}</ref> and was sentenced to two years probation and a $2,500 fine.<ref>{{Cite web |last=Bernstein |first=Maxine |date=June 24, 2019 |title=Union Pacific plant operator allowed thousands of gallons of oil to spill into Willamette River, feds say |url=https://www.oregonlive.com/environment/2019/06/union-pacific-plant-operator-allowed-thousands-of-gallons-of-oil-to-spill-into-willamette-river-feds-say.html |access-date=November 2, 2019 |website=oregonlive}}</ref><ref>{{Cite web |last=Bernstein |first=Maxine |date=October 28, 2019 |title=Former Union Pacific Plant Officer Who Allowed Gallons of Oil to Seep into Willamette River Gets Probation |url=https://www.oregonlive.com/crime/2019/10/former-union-pacific-plant-officer-who-allowed-gallons-of-oil-to-seep-into-willamette-river-gets-probation.html |access-date=November 2, 2019 |website=oregonlive}}</ref><ref>{{Cite web |date=October 29, 2019 |title=Ex-Railroad Plant Operator Who Allowed Oil Spill Sentenced |url=https://apnews.com/d02fabd3a2ef4b03b64fffe04eced553 |access-date=November 2, 2019 |website=AP NEWS}}</ref>

In 2016, the Union Pacific Railroad Co. was named as a defendant in a lawsuit seeking cleanup of a contaminated rail yard site that operated in [[Lafayette, Louisiana]], from the late 1800s until the 1960s.<ref>{{Cite web |last=Burgess |first=Richard |date=February 5, 2016 |title=Landowners sue to get Lafayette railroad yard cleaned up, concerned about contamination of aquifer: Potential threat to Chicot Aquifer cited |url=https://www.theadvocate.com/acadiana/news/article_426b44fd-9b74-5479-8d2c-969818f180dd.html |access-date=November 9, 2021 |website=The Advocate}}</ref>

In 2020, [[Houston]] residents living near a Union Pacific Railroad Company rail yard filed lawsuits against the Union Pacific. These lawsuits followed the finding by the State of Texas of a higher-than-expected incidence of certain cancers in residents living close to the yard.<ref>{{Cite web |last=Douglas |first=Erin |date=September 19, 2020 |title=Residents Sue Union Pacific, Others over Cancer Deaths |url=https://infoweb.newsbank.com/apps/news/document-view?p=AWNB&t=country%3AUSA%21USA&sort=YMD_date%3AD&fld-base-0=alltext&maxresults=20&val-base-0=lawsuit%20%22union%20pacific%22%20Houston%20railyard&docref=news/17DB0F01C28BCF48 |access-date=November 9, 2021 |website=NewsBank |publisher=Houston Chronicle}}</ref> A State of Texas report released in 2021 identified an additional [[cancer cluster]] of [[lymphoblastic leukemia]] in children.<ref>{{Cite web |last=Ernst |first=Sara Willa |date=February 3, 2021 |title='We Know What We Want': 5th Ward Residents Demand Action after Another Confirmed Cancer Cluster |url=https://www.houstonpublicmedia.org/articles/news/health-science/2021/02/03/390571/5th-ward-cancer-cluster-houston-confirmed/ |access-date=November 9, 2021 |publisher=Houston PBS}}</ref>

In 2022, the state of Utah proposed bill, HB405, which would have required Union Pacific to replace their aging fleet of [[United States vehicle emission standards#Non-road engines|Tier 0]] switching locomotives with hydrogen or electric engines by 2028, due to Utah having very poor air quality in winter months. According to Utah Senator Schultz, Union Pacific was uncooperative on the switching locomotive bill if Utah did not drop the railroad crossings bill. HB405 was dropped after Union Pacific made voluntary commitments to replace several tier 0 switching locomotives with less polluting tier 2 locomotives, as well as to test some all electric ones in the Utah Roper Rail Yard.<ref name="Deseret News 2022" /><ref name="Trains 2022" />

Wabtec is modernizing 600 older Union Pacific locomotives over a three-year period through 2025. The modernizations will improve fuel efficiency and reliability of these locomotives while also reducing emissions.<ref>{{Cite web |last=Francis |first=Bob |date=2022-08-02 |title=Fort Worth plant to modernize Union Pacific locomotives for efficiency, environmental benefits |url=http://fortworthreport.org/2022/08/02/fort-worth-plant-to-modernize-union-pacific-locomotives-for-efficiency-environmental-benefits-%EF%BF%BC/ |access-date=2024-05-29 |website=Fort Worth Report |language=en-US}}</ref>