The Doe Run Company, a metal and mineral producer, has selected seven school districts south of St. Louis to provide a total of $300,000 for reducing idle emissions from diesel-powered school buses.
On Monday, which coincided with Earth Day, Doe Run announced the seven districts that will split the funding for bus retrofits: Hillsboro; Jefferson R-7; Windsor; Dunklin; Desoto; Grandview; and Festus school districts.
The retrofits will be performed by Central States Bus Sales in conjunction with Clean Cities of St. Louis and the Missouri Department of Natural Resources. Most of the retrofits are direct-fired heaters that operate on a timer to warm the engine, which reduces from hours to minutes the amount of time for drivers to idle the buses each day. A representative of Central States Bus Sales added that studies have shown that, for every gallon of diesel burned, reduced idling technology reduces carbon emissions by 22 percent.
“During the cold months, school buses need to warm up for about one hour to keep students warm and to run effectively, which increases fuel costs and air emissions,” commented Bill Schlueter, director of service and warranty at Central States Bus Sales. “By installing idle-reduction technology, an independent, direct-fired heater that operates on a timer will warm the engine and the cabin of the bus without running the engine, decreasing idle time from hours to just minutes each day.”
Earlier this year, Doe Run opened the grant competition as part of a 2010 settlement agreement with the U.S. EPA, which alleged three decades of air, soil and water pollution and lack of required permits for a sulfuric acid plant and sintering maching shared by the company. While Doe Run disagreed with EPA’s findings, citing compliance with State Implemented Plans for both lead and sulfuric acid, the company was given the option of building a new acid plant or to cease primary smelting.
The EPA and Doe Run came to an agreement that included bus improvements for area schools, another $200,000 to help schools remove hazardous waste and old chemicals from science labs and classrooms and to train school staff on proper chemical handling.
