NYC to reduce sanitation truck emissions

11 April 2001

The New York City Department of Sanitation (NYC DOS), New York State Department of Environmental Conservation (NYS DEC) and Northeast States for Coordinated Air Use Management (NESCAUM) announced a project with Cummins Inc. to reduce particulate emissions from selected sanitation vehicles. The collaborative project will retrofit as many as 260 heavy-duty trucks with advanced emission control devices over the next three years. The project will deploy an initial 10-vehicle pilot of retrofit garbage collection vehicles and replace four diesel street sweepers with compressed natural gas (CNG) street sweepers this summer.

Vehicles chosen for the retrofit project are fitted with Cummins’ diesel engines and operate in all five New York City boroughs. Johnson Matthey and Engelhard Corporation have been selected to each provide emission control devices for the pilot retrofits. Cummins Metropower, Inc., a Cummins Inc. full service distributor, will install these devices.

A number of emission control devices, including the CRT filters and catalyzed particulate filters, will be evaluated on performance and durability. The experience gained from this program will also help to facilitate the implementation of low emission technologies into future NYC DOS purchases. NESCAUM, a non-profit organization representing the eight Northeast States on air quality issues, and M.J. Bradley & Associates, an environmental consulting firm in the advanced vehicle field, are providing project management, technical assistance and staff support for the project.

This project will be financed by environmental project funds under the Consent Decrees signed in 1998 between engine manufactures, EPA, and DOJ.

Source: Nescaum