Southwest Detroit Environmental Vision (SDEV) will spend the next two years leading an initiative to reduce diesel emissions in Detroit, Lansing and Flint through replacing aging fleet vehicles.
The U.S. Environmental Protection Agency (EPA) has awarded SDEV a $1.4-million grant from the National Clean Diesel Funding Assistance Program for the Michigan Clean Diesel Collaborative initiative.
SDEV has been working for the past three years on reducing diesel emissions to improve public health. According to the EPA, every $1 spent on diesel emissions reduction produces $13 in health benefits. To date, SDEV has secured over $10-million in investments from private business partner contributions and public grants to reduce diesel pollution primarily in Southwest Detroit’s transportation hub, which supports our international border crossing and many industries for Michigan.
SDEV and its partners have succeeded in reducing diesel emissions by over 6,000-tons annually.
With this latest EPA grant, SDEV will be working with Detroit-based NextEnergy Center, Greater Lansing Area Clean Cities, and nine public and private partners to replace 31 aging diesel trucks and school buses. The new trucks and buses will have a higher fuel economy and will reduce diesel emissions by an estimated additional 177 tons annually.
Private partners are Ferrous Processing and Trading, Alco Transportation, and National Industrial Maintenance. Public partners are the Detroit Water and Sewerage Department, Genesee Intermediate School District in Flint, and four other school districts in the Lansing area.
“Diesel pollution has been consistently identified by the community as a major environmental issue of concern, since we host heavy industry and truck traffic from the international border crossing.” said Kathy Stott, Executive Director of SDEV. “We are grateful to local industry partners that are working to reduce the environmental impact on the community”.
Since 2009, SDEV has partnered with 15 local businesses and municipalities to reduce diesel pollution by matching partners with public grants to retrofit and replace old diesel engines in trucks, boats, and construction equipment. To learn more about the U.S. EPA National Clean Diesel Funding Assistance program, visit www.epa.gov/cleandiesel/prgnational.htm. To learn more about SDEV, visit www.sdevweb.info. SDEV is a nonprofit organization that has worked since 1992 to improve the environment and economy of Southwest Detroit.
Click here to be introduced to SDEV
Source: Southwest Detroit Environmental Vision