A contract between Waste Management Collection and Recycling(WM) and the MSRC was signed in May 2009 to deploy natural gas powered solid waste collection vehicles operating at Waste Managements Santa Ana facility located in Orange County. WM received a contract to purchase five (5) refuse trucks equipped with advanced heavy-duty natural gas engines certified to the 0.2 gram NOx standard. The MSRC awarded $32,000 per truck for purchase and deployment, for a total grant not-to-exceed $160,000.
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WM Santa Ana facility deployed five (5) 2009 Autocar WXR64 trucks. The trucks are powered with the Cummins ISL G 320 horsepower CNG engine. WM took delivery of the vehicles by July 2009 and implemented a public outreach plan in September, 2009. WM installed vehicle decals in prominent locations on each of the vehicles. WM also announced the award in a press release in January 2010 in an effort to educate the public about the MSRC and air quality improvement projects in the region.
The purpose of this project is to reduce emissions from heavy-duty refuse collection vehicles by deploying extremely low emission natural gas vehicles. Through financial assistance from the SCAQMD Mobile Source Reduction Program (MSRC), WM purchased five (5) new CNG refuse trucks and has kept these low emission vehicles in service within the SCAQMD boundaries.
The five new trucks are now in service and will remain in the SCAQMD for a minimum of five (5) years. The replacement of these trucks has greatly reduced exposure to toxic diesel engines in residential and commercial areas. WM estimates that all of these trucks will use approximately 28,714 diesel gallon equivalents of CNG fuel annually. WM expects that by the end of the five-year commitment, approximately 143,570 gallons of diesel fuel will have been displaced through this project (five year project life, five units). Based on this fuel consumption, these Autocar CNG trucks will achieve significant emission reductions over comparable diesel vehicle equivalents. This project will eliminate 1.315 tons of smog-causing NOx each year the trucks are in service. Additionally, although it was not a stated project goal, these trucks have reduced global warming emissions over comparable diesel units. Based on the latest figures from the California Air Resources Boards Low Carbon Fuel Standard well-to-wheels transportation assessment, these CNG trucks will also achieve a 20% greenhouse gas emission benefit over comparable trucks running on ultra low sulfur diesel. These trucks are not known to increase problems with water pollution, solid waste, global warming or other toxic emissions.
All vehicles were put into service by July, 2009. During the project implementation, WM did not experience any fatal problems with these units. All of these trucks remain in service within the SCAQMD boundaries.Waste Management did not experience any difficulties with order, delivery, or deployment of the five natural gas vehicles. All vehicles are running well and remain in operation in the Santa Ana fleet. The only identified problem is the lack of fueling infrastructure at the Santa Ana facility; therefore, Waste Management is utilizing its nearby CNG fueling station in Irvine as a temporary solution. Waste Management is also in the process of constructing a time-fill/fast-fill public access station at the Santa Ana site. This station is expected be commissioned in the second quarter of 2010.