City of Charleston Completes DERA Project
October 13, 2010
CHARLESTON, SC – October 13, 2010 – The City of Charleston completed the DERA project which served to retrofit 19 existing medium and heavy duty City trucks with either Diesel Oxidation Catalyst (DOCs) devices or Diesel Particulate Filters (DPFs). The project cost $129,700 and was funded by a Diesel Emissions Reduction Act (DERA) grant. The DERA grant required the use of U.S. Environmental Protection Agency (EPA) approved “verified technology.” Both DOCs and DPFs are authorized by EPA’s verified technology list.
As part of the DERA project, City of Charleston Fleet Management personnel worked with several vendors to identify City trucks that were compatible with the verified technology components. This required that the candidate trucks be fitted with data monitors to determine if the baseline emissions and exhaust temperatures met the criterion for retrofit of verified technology components. Nineteen trucks were identified as compatible and chosen for the DERA program.
Once the trucks were chosen and compatible verified technology components identified, The City of Charleston Fleet Management and Procurement Division staff prepared a Request for Proposal seeking vendor partners for equipment, installation of DPFs, and technical support for DOC installations. After careful evaluation, Cummins Diesel was chosen as the vendor partner for the DERA project. The contract with Cummins Diesel was approved by the Ways and Means Committee on April 13, 2010.
Mayor Joseph P. Riley, Jr. said, “Each step we can take to minimize the emissions from our fleet vehicles which travel the city makes a difference in the air quality in our city. Our Fleet Management staff has done a great job in utilizing this grant to benefit our city and its residents.”
The EPA believes that diesel exhaust poses one of the greatest public health risks of all air pollutants. Installation of these components reduces the release of harmful emissions. The reduction of emissions translates into fewer heath problems attributed to the released particulates. DOCs use catalytic reactions to convert pollutants to water and carbon dioxide. A DOC can potentially reduce particulate matter by 20%, hydrocarbons by 50%, and carbon dioxide by 40%. DPFs have the potential of reducing particulate matter, hydrocarbons and carbon monoxide by 90%.
Fleet Management staff began ordering equipment on April 14, 2010 and the first DOC installation was completed by City of Charleston technician on April 28, 2010. During the course of the project 13 dump trucks were retrofitted with DOCs and 6 rear-loader garbage trucks were fitted with DPFs. Installations were complete on all 19 trucks by August, 26, 2010.
