Some vehicles in Louisville Metro Government’s diesel fleet are now equipped with new pollution controls. With more than $1.6 million in federal and state grants, Louisville Metro has retrofitted 90 pieces of diesel equipment. Air Pollution Control District director Lauren Anderson says the new pollution controls will greatly reduce the amount of pollution the equipment releases into the air.“Diesel particulate filters can filter out 90 percent of the harmful particulate from diesel emissions,” she said. “Ninety percent.”Diesel engines emit soot into the air. Long-term exposure to the pollution has been found to cause health problems ranging from asthma to cancer.Anderson says the city chose to retrofit the vehicles that have the greatest effect on residential air quality.“These were chosen because these were pieces of diesel equipment or trucks that we know are in residential areas a lot of the time,” she said. “They are in our neighborhoods, they are close to where people live, they go up and down your street. Garbage trucks go up residential streets every single day.”The equipment retrofitted by the grant include:
- 35 tractors used in the city’s parks
- 10 dump trucks (of 102 total dump trucks)
- 10 solid waste packer trucks
- 14 Metropolitan Sewer District pumps
- 6 Louisville Regional Airport Authority piece of equipment
- Assorted street sweepers, loaders and excavators
