Michigan DEQ funds Southwest Detroit Environment Vision Project to replace four old trucks with clean diesel versions

Using a federal grand administered by the Michigan Department of Environmental Quality (DEQ), Southwest Detroit Environmental Vision (SDEV), recently completed a project to replace four old trucks belonging to local businesses with clean diesel trucks.

SDEV received $124,550 from the DEQ via its 2015 Michigan Clean Diesel Grant Program for the project, which was matched by the companies that purchased the new trucks: Causley Trucking, Foreman Brothers, Gemini Transport and Forgotten Harvest. In total, the project cost $506,820.

Over their lifetimes, the trucks will reduce diesel emissions by 105.7 tons, or 6.5 tons annually, an important measure for improving Michigan air quality as diesel exhaust can cause health problems like asthma, cardiovascular disease, cancer and even premature death.

Michigan’s Clean Diesel Grant Program began in 2008 and is funded by the federal Diesel Emissions Reduction Act and the American Recovery and Reinvestment Act. Providing grants from the more than $3 million in federal funding that it has received, the DEQ supports projects to either control emissions from or replace the engines of vehicles like school buses and long-haul trucks. The department works with other government agencies, local industries and non-profit organizations to achieve its goals of reduced diesel emissions.