SOUTHEASTERN N.C. — Two Cape Fear counties have received state grants to help reduce pollution from diesel vehicles.
The North Carolina Department of Environmental Quality issued $1.4 million for projects aimed at reducing air pollution. Of the seven grants awarded, New Hanover and Brunswick counties were among the recipients.
NCDEQ awards Mobile Source Emissions Reduction Grants annually to replace, retrofit, or repair diesel vehicles and reduce emissions. Mobile sources are any vehicle that can pollute the air, including automobiles, trucks, buses, locomotives, motorcycles, off-road vehicles, construction equipment and lawnmowers.
This year’s projects will replace 10 diesel vehicles with cleaner alternatives — the majority being electric vehicles. Combined, the awarded projects will reduce greenhouse gases by more than 2,656 tons over their lifetime. They will also eliminate more than 40 tons of nitrogen oxide and 2 tons of particulate matter.
Brunswick County received $185,950 to replace two marine diesel propulsion engine trucks with new, cleaner technology. This will reduce nitrogen oxide by 23.9 tons.
In New Hanover County, $90,000 was awarded to replace three diesel refuse trucks with three low-NOx compressed natural gas refuse trucks. The result will reduce nitrogen oxide by 4.69 tons.
Additional recipients include Lee, Cumberland, Hyde, Bladen, Orange and Craven counties.
The grants are funded by the U.S. Enivronmental Protection Agency’s Diesel Emissions Reductions Act.
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