Springfield has been awarded a $50,000 grant to retrofit city school buses with diesel oxidation catalysts (DOCs).
The grant, offered in May from the Environmental Protection Agency via the International Council for Local Environmental Initiatives as part of its Northeast Clean School Bus Initiative, will allow the city to cut down on particulate matter and harmful gases emitting from the buses’ diesel engines, breaking down the pollutants in the diesel exhaust into less detrimental components.
Such filtering will hopefully diminish other problematic environmental effects from diesel exhaust, such as acid rain and the formation of ozone and haze.
At a press conference this morning at First Student, 600 Berkshire Avenue in Springfield, officials were to make the announcement in tandem with a photo opportunity: the first installation of a DOC on a city school bus. The buses will reportedly be serviced by Cummins Northeast.
The devices apparently use a chemical process to break down pollutants. The honeycomb-like structure inside is made of porous ceramic coated with a catalyzing substance. Pollution is reduced by the resulting chemical reaction.
On newer buses—1995 or later—a DOC is said to reduce 60 to 90 percent of particulate matter, but other information (PDF) provided in 2003 by the EPA has noted particulate matter reduction more in the 20 percent range, with hydrocarbons reduced by 50 percent and carbon monoxide reduced by 40 percent. That same 2003 document gives a $1,000 to $2,000 price tag to each device, adding that it can last seven to 15 years and doesn’t require much maintenance, like a catalytic converter on a car. Each DOC can take up to three hours to install.
A statement from Mayor Charles Ryan’s office calls the retrofitting a chance for the city to “become a leader and model for other communities in the northeast.”
Expected at the press conference: John Maloney of the Springfield Public Schools; Candace Bayram (contract manager), Donna Aloso (regional operations manager), and George Paterson (director of safety) of First Student; city councilors Jose Tosado and Bruce Stebbins; and School Committee members Tom Ashe and Antonette Pepe.
The mayor’s release notes, “The installation of the new devices in the buses comes just in time for the start of school year and supports the city’s environmental commitments. Last spring, Country Home magazine rated the city as number four among the top 25 best “green” places to live, and number one best green large city. The city’s Keep America Beautiful campaign has been designated as a national model.”
Other communities in the northeast receiving this same retrofitting thanks to the ICLEI: Hamden, Connecticut; Brattleboro, Vermont; Cambridge, Massachusetts; and Syracuse, New York.
