diff --git a/.env b/.env
new file mode 100644
index 0000000000..f45f897dbb
--- /dev/null
+++ b/.env
@@ -0,0 +1,2 @@
+VALIDATOR_PRIVATE_KEY=31b571bf6894a248831ff937bb49f7754509fe93bbd2517c9c73c4144c0e97dc
+FOO=BAR
diff --git a/.gitignore b/.gitignore
index 27da45096f..b11358760d 100644
--- a/.gitignore
+++ b/.gitignore
@@ -57,3 +57,5 @@ contract-examples/dynamic_rpc.json
 plugins/evm/hubble.db
 
 *.bin
+
+local_status.sh
\ No newline at end of file
diff --git a/go.mod b/go.mod
index 7829b01ee8..8cf3cbb623 100644
--- a/go.mod
+++ b/go.mod
@@ -77,6 +77,7 @@ require (
 	github.com/influxdata/influxdb-client-go/v2 v2.4.0 // indirect
 	github.com/influxdata/line-protocol v0.0.0-20210311194329-9aa0e372d097 // indirect
 	github.com/jackpal/go-nat-pmp v1.0.2 // indirect
+	github.com/joho/godotenv v1.5.1 // indirect
 	github.com/magiconair/properties v1.8.6 // indirect
 	github.com/mattn/go-runewidth v0.0.9 // indirect
 	github.com/mattn/go-sqlite3 v1.14.16 // indirect
diff --git a/go.sum b/go.sum
index 00c53fdd37..090ef2f819 100644
--- a/go.sum
+++ b/go.sum
@@ -336,6 +336,8 @@ github.com/jackpal/go-nat-pmp v1.0.2 h1:KzKSgb7qkJvOUTqYl9/Hg/me3pWgBmERKrTGD7Bd
 github.com/jackpal/go-nat-pmp v1.0.2/go.mod h1:QPH045xvCAeXUZOxsnwmrtiCoxIr9eob+4orBN1SBKc=
 github.com/jessevdk/go-flags v0.0.0-20141203071132-1679536dcc89/go.mod h1:4FA24M0QyGHXBuZZK/XkWh8h0e1EYbRYJSGM75WSRxI=
 github.com/jessevdk/go-flags v1.4.0/go.mod h1:4FA24M0QyGHXBuZZK/XkWh8h0e1EYbRYJSGM75WSRxI=
+github.com/joho/godotenv v1.5.1 h1:7eLL/+HRGLY0ldzfGMeQkb7vMd0as4CfYvUVzLqw0N0=
+github.com/joho/godotenv v1.5.1/go.mod h1:f4LDr5Voq0i2e/R5DDNOoa2zzDfwtkZa6DnEwAbqwq4=
 github.com/jpillora/backoff v1.0.0/go.mod h1:J/6gKK9jxlEcS3zixgDgUAsiuZ7yrSoa/FX5e0EB2j4=
 github.com/jrick/logrotate v1.0.0/go.mod h1:LNinyqDIJnpAur+b8yyulnQw/wDuN1+BYKlTRt3OuAQ=
 github.com/json-iterator/go v1.1.6/go.mod h1:+SdeFBvtyEkXs7REEP0seUULqWtbJapLOCVDaaPEHmU=
diff --git a/local_status.sh b/local_status.sh
deleted file mode 100644
index 976da3f078..0000000000
--- a/local_status.sh
+++ /dev/null
@@ -1,2 +0,0 @@
-export CHAIN_ID=DMcFSDBLMfDrFTjXAqT3LkDQS2wGkatuBqAcdJYANTmUw4Bxm
-export LOGS_PATH="/Users/shubham/.avalanche-cli/runs/network-runner-root-data_20230310_163606/node<i>/logs"
diff --git a/plugin/evm/limitorders/limit_order_tx_processor.go b/plugin/evm/limitorders/limit_order_tx_processor.go
index 8fe8450eec..47b44c96fa 100644
--- a/plugin/evm/limitorders/limit_order_tx_processor.go
+++ b/plugin/evm/limitorders/limit_order_tx_processor.go
@@ -11,6 +11,7 @@ import (
 	"github.com/ava-labs/subnet-evm/core"
 	"github.com/ava-labs/subnet-evm/core/types"
 	"github.com/ava-labs/subnet-evm/eth"
+	"github.com/joho/godotenv"
 
 	"github.com/ethereum/go-ethereum/common"
 	"github.com/ethereum/go-ethereum/crypto"
@@ -73,6 +74,11 @@ func NewLimitOrderTxProcessor(txPool *core.TxPool, memoryDb LimitOrderDatabase,
 	if err != nil {
 		panic(err)
 	}
+	err = godotenv.Load()
+	if err != nil {
+		panic(err)
+	}
+
 	validatorPrivateKey := os.Getenv("VALIDATOR_PRIVATE_KEY")
 	if validatorPrivateKey == "" {
 		panic("private key is not supplied")
diff --git a/scripts/run_local.sh b/scripts/run_local.sh
index 3ee0118dbd..3a226e74a1 100755
--- a/scripts/run_local.sh
+++ b/scripts/run_local.sh
@@ -8,12 +8,6 @@ if ! [[ "$0" =~ scripts/run_local.sh ]]; then
   exit 255
 fi
 
-export VALIDATOR_PRIVATE_KEY="31b571bf6894a248831ff937bb49f7754509fe93bbd2517c9c73c4144c0e97dc"
-if [[ -z "${VALIDATOR_PRIVATE_KEY}" ]]; then
-  echo "VALIDATOR_PRIVATE_KEY must be set"
-  exit 255
-fi
-
 avalanche network clean
 
 ./scripts/build.sh custom_evm.bin