Grant Recipients Announced for $1.6 Million to Support Diesel Exhaust Reduction

The Iowa Environmental Protection Commission approved funding $1.6 million for 12 diesel exhaust reduction projects at its monthly meeting on Oct. 20. The competitive grant program, known as Reduce Iowa’s Diesel Exhaust (RIDE), was developed with funds from the American Recovery and Reinvestment Act of 2009 and is managed by the Department of Natural Resources Air Quality Bureau. The program targets the reduction of exhaust from diesel engines. Grant recipients will contribute approximately $455,000 in monetary or in-kind matches to complete their projects.

RIDE grant recipients are:

• TMC Transportation of Des Moines, $680,500 to install auxiliary power units (APU) on 100 flatbed trucks to reduce idling.
• Johnsrud Transport, Inc. of Des Moines, $4,875 to install direct fired heaters on five semi-tractors to reduce idling.
• Mid Continent Trucking Co. of Denison, $73,800 to install APUs on 12 heavy duty trucks to reduce idling.
• City of Davenport, $115,000 to help finance a new road grader used for snow removal and construction tasks. It will replace an old, high polluting model.
• Linn County Public Health, on behalf of College Community School District, $83,430 to install auxiliary coolant heaters on 27 school buses to reduce idling.
• Schmelzer Transport Inc. of Dubuque, $15,300 to install APUs on three trucks to reduce idling.
• Iowa Northern Railway Company, $310,000 to remove a locomotive engine and convert it to a rail “slug.” A slug is used to increase the number of traction motors available to a locomotive to increase pulling and braking power. A slug can replace the use of an engine, thus halving diesel emissions.
• Dean Bartelson of Irwin, $12,600 to install APUs on two semi-trucks to reduce idling.
• Moeller Trucking, Inc. of Denison, $70,500 to assist in replacing two high polluting, over-the-road trucks.
• Royal Charters of Le Mars, Iowa, $11,490 to install air conditioning/heating units powered by generators to reducing idling.
• Bloomer Inc., of Columbus Junction, $19,415 to install APUs on three tractor trailers.
• Des Moines Area Regional Transit Authority, $210,728 to acquire rebuilt engines for nine buses and new engines for three other buses to meet more stringent emissions standards.

Grant applications were judged based on projected emissions reductions, cost-effectiveness, percentage of match funding, and the location where emissions will be reduced.

“When completed, these projects have the potential to reduce diesel exhaust by over 2,100 tons annually for the life of the engines,” said Air Quality Bureau Chief Catharine Fitzsimmons. “Diesel engines are powerful and durable, and that’s why people continue to use them 20 or 30 years, even longer. But those old diesel engines release a lot of toxic particles into the air which is harmful to human health.”

Diesel exhaust contains a variety of harmful gases and particles including 40 known cancer-causing substances such as benzene, 1,3-butadiene, formaldehyde, acetaldehyde and acrolein. Those most vulnerable to the effects of pollution are children because their lungs are still developing. Diesel engine emissions contribute to hospital admissions, asthma attacks and other respiratory symptoms and lost school and work days. Additionally, they cause visibility reduction and potent greenhouse gases involved in global climate change.

More information about the RIDE grant program and diesel exhaust reduction strategies is available at:

http://www.iowadnr.gov/air/RIDE/index.html