because someones pocket was being lined with greenbacks ..... ;-) Anyone in Boston doing BD that can sell to the school system out there?
On Thu, 20 Feb 2003, Keith Addison wrote: > Grist's comment: > > "Boston is moving to protect its students [from diesel fumes] by > retrofitting school buses with new filtration systems that can > eliminate 90 percent of diesel emissions. The Boston project is the > largest in a New England-wide effort to clean up school buses; it is > being paid for out of a $1.4 million fund created by the U.S. EPA > with money won in a lawsuit against a Massachusetts waste-handling > company. According to EPA estimates, the upgrades will eliminate at > least 540 pounds of diesel particulate matter, 2,480 pounds of > smog-causing hydrocarbons, and 17,380 pounds of carbon monoxide from > the air every year." > > Those numbers are rather minor, aren't they? For that much money? Why > not just use biodiesel instead? > > Keith > > > > http://www.boston.com/dailyglobe2/047/west/On_the_road_to_cleaner_air+.shtml > Boston Globe Online / West Weekly / On the road to cleaner air > MILFORD > > On the road to cleaner air > > School vehicles retrofitted to reduce diesel emissions > > By Franco Ordonez, Globe Staff Correspondent, 2/16/2003 > > ne by one, Boston public school buses are making their way out to > Milford, taken off their smog-producing routes and sent west for a > few days of detox, of sorts. > > They are driven to a secluded part of town, almost hidden behind > towering granite walls along Quarry Drive, and into a massive, > hangar-sized garage. Raising the buses on lifts, mechanics dressed in > blue jumpsuits attach computers and sensors to the engines, then > discard the mufflers, replacing them with new retro-filtration > systems that eliminate up to 90 percent of diesel emissions. > > It is perhaps an unlikely venue to kick off an effort that > environmental officials hope eventually ends the prospect of > students' choking on diesel fumes on their way to school. > > The work, being done under the aegis of the Environmental Protection > Agency, is in response to a February 2002 study conducted by Yale > University and a Connecticut nonprofit, Environment and Human Heath > Inc., that looked at children's exposure to diesel exhaust from > school buses. The EPA has launched a national push for the use of > pollution control devices and ultra low-sulfur diesel fuel on trucks > and buses. > > The EPA is dedicating $1.4 million to the effort, a sum won in an > April settlement with Waste Management of Massachusetts. The EPA > contended that the waste-hauling company mishandled the disposal of > some home appliances, which released chlorofluorocarbons into the > atmosphere. The money is funding the largest retrofitting project of > school buses in New England. > > Five months into the project, EPA officials recently celebrated the > pilot program's continuing success at Southworth-Milton Inc. in > Milford, a Caterpillar engine distributor, where 100 Boston school > buses from the school district's biggest bus yard are being outfitted > with the special diesel particulate filters. All 200 buses at the > district's Readville yard are currently running on ultra-low sulfur > fuel. > > According to EPA officials, the combination of retrofitting the buses > and using ultra low-sulfur fuel will eliminate at least 540 pounds of > diesel particulate matter, 2,480 pounds of smog-causing hydrocarbons, > and 17,380 tons of carbon monoxide air pollution in Boston each year. > This, environmental officials say, will make school bus rides much > safer for children. > > ''This allows us to do even better,'' said Richard Jacobs, director > of transportation for the Boston School Department, who noted that > the city has already made strides to lower school bus emissions. > > The work, the first of its kind in the state, is being targeted to > some of the most polluted areas of Boston, including Roxbury, > Dorchester, and Mattapan, where, according to the EPA, asthma rates > are as much as 178 percent higher than the state average and are the > leading cause of childhood emergency hospitalizations. > > Last September, students of William B. Rogers Middle School in Hyde > Park began riding the first retrofitted school bus, which traps > diesel exhaust and turns it into carbon dioxide and water. Since > then, 17 revamped buses have hit Boston streets. > > Nationally, 600,000 school buses carry 24 million children to school > daily, according to Environment and Human Health Inc. Children > annually spend 3 billion hours on school buses, considered the safest > way for children to get to school. But the vast majority of those > buses run on diesel fuel, which, according to the EPA, emits human > carcinogens that can aggravate asthma, and even cause lung cancer and > premature death. > > Diesel exhaust contains more than 40 air pollutants, including fine > particles of carbon and a mixture of toxic gases, according to > Environment and Human Health. > > ''It's so small that when you inhale, it gets down in your lungs so > deep that your mucous can't clean it up,'' said Dan Brown, an > Environmental Protection Agency environmental engineer. > > People with existing heart or lung disease, asthma, or other > respiratory problems are most sensitive, but children also are > dangerously susceptible because they breathe 50 percent more air per > pound of body weight than adults, according to the EPA. > > The plan is to retrofit 83 more Boston buses by the end of the school > year, as funding allows. Each retrofitting costs about $9,000 and > takes about two days to complete. ''Schools basically don't have any > money, so we are trying to help them out,'' said Peter Hagerty, an > EPA environmental engineer. > > The Boston School Department's fleet is made up of 680 vehicles, said > Jacobs, who touted the program's success but stopped short of saying > the new technology should be installed in all city school buses. He > noted that the program was still being tested, and that his > department has already taken measures to reduce emissions in > preparation for stiffer federal regulations to be enacted next year. > > And though Jacobs said he would be happy to accept additional outside > funding to retrofit more buses, he acknowledged that it was unlikely > that the city would be able to dedicate any of its own money in > today's economy. > > ''We are excited about the project,'' Jacobs said, ''but we want to > wait to uncork the champagne.'' > > This story ran on page 1 of the Globe West section on 2/16/2003. > © Copyright 2003 Globe Newspaper Company. > > > Yahoo! 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