NEW YORK, NY, July 29, 2008 -- One of the largest and most technologically innovative diesel emission reduction projects in the U.S. has just been completed, Emisstar LLC announced today, at the NYC Department of Environmental Protection's (DEP's) Croton Water Treatment Plant in the Bronx, NY. Since 2005, construction equipment emissions of particulate matter (PM) and nitrogen oxides (NOx) were reduced by 0.7 tons and by 1.2 tons respectively, representing cumulative total emission reductions of 96.5% at the project site.
"By all measures the Croton project exceeded everyone's expectations," remarked Emisstar Principal Glenn P. Goldstein. "From the sheer size of the undertaking, the number of new technologies deployed, the conclusive results achieved and validated for the construction workers on-site, city agencies and the community-at-large, this project pushed the envelope of what is achievable and has advanced our collective scientific understanding in the field of emissions control and measurement."
"DEP's partnership with Emisstar used state-of-the-art technology to substantially reduce emissions from equipment at the Croton site," said DEP Commissioner Emily Lloyd. "It is an important part of DEP's overall efforts to minimize the impacts that projects have on on-site workers and local communities."
The Croton Water Treatment Project is recognized as the first official implementation of "Best Available Technology" under NYC Local Law 77 to reduce diesel emissions from construction equipment on public works contracts, ultimately improving air quality and addressing public health concerns. The law requires the use of emissions control technology on non-road diesel engines over fifty horsepower used at City construction sites. Emisstar led the consulting engineering and implementation effort, including use of its proprietary Emisstar Analytics software, on-board emissions testing, technical project management and outreach coordination between stakeholder groups.
To achieve the emissions reductions at the project site, Emisstar worked with 16 potential ECT manufacturers and completed analyses to verify the suitability of each technology for each piece of equipment. A total of 25 machines were retrofitted with technologies achieving the highest level of reductions under NYC local law, including the first-ever application of novel emission control technologies from Johnson Matthey, Rypos, Huss and Engine Control Systems for the non-road sector. Emisstar and project partner Environment Canada conducted in-use testing on the equipment to verify the actual emission reductions achieved on-site. In conjunction with this announcement, two technical publications from the project are now available for download at http://www.emisstar.com/.
The project's success was driven by the collective focus on cleaner air and quality of life for the surrounding community by the project stakeholders, which included the NYC Department of Environmental Protection, Schiavone Construction Company, URS Malcolm Pirnie, Environmental Defense, technology providers, public officials and concerned citizen groups. The Croton Water Treatment Plant, when completed in 2011, will supply up to 33% of New York City's fresh drinking water supply on a daily basis.
Emisstar LLC provides consulting services focusing upon the scientific, technology, policy, business and public health challenges surrounding mobile air emissions.
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