NCDOT obtains grant to reduce locomotive emissions

The North Carolina Department of Environmental Quality has awarded a $39,000 grant to the N.C. Department of Transportation's (NCDOT) Rail Division to continue work on minimizing air pollution from its locomotive fleet.

The grant will allow additional technologies to be added to the blended after-treatment system (BATS) that was installed and tested on the F59H Locomotive 1859, according to NCDOT's April rail report newsletter.

The BATS mitigates the four components of diesel exhaust known to be harmful to humans. The current system has migrated three of the four compounds to the Tier 4 emissions level required by the U.S. Environmental Protection Agency (EPA) for new locomotives. The fourth component, particulate matter, was lowered to Tier 3.

With the addition of the technology, NCDOT Rail Division officials anticipate achieving the EPA Tier 4 level for particulate matter, which will bring the department's F59PH 1859 Locomotive to the functional equivalent of new locomotives.