Program retrofits school buses to reduce pollution from exhaust

Diesel emissions can worsen asthma in children and cause other health problems.

CINCINNATI (AP) — Some pupils across Ohio can breathe a little easier while sitting in idling school buses because of programs that are retrofitting buses with pollution-eating devices.

Harmful pollutants in diesel exhaust have been reduced in hundreds of Ohio buses through a federal environmental initiative and related state, local and private efforts.

Among the biggest programs has been in the Cincinnati region, where federal funding channeled through the Hamilton County Department of Environmental Services has helped retrofit 265 of 800 buses in a five-county area.

“The thing we’re trying to do is provide the kids on the bus a clean environment,” said Ken Edgell, who oversees the department’s program. “It provides a healthier ride for the school kids and, of course, it is good for the environment.”

The U.S. Environmental Protection Agency, which began the Clean School Bus USA program four years ago, says diesel emissions can cause health problems including respiratory disease and worsened asthma in children. The EPA offers grants to support programs to retrofit bus mufflers with diesel oxidation catalysts and promotes reducing bus idling time and replacing old buses with new, less-polluting, ones.

The diesel oxidation catalysts use a chemical process to break down pollutants in the exhaust stream. Edgell said they reduce pollutants by 40 percent.

The EPA said 20,000 of nearly 400,000 diesel-fueled school buses in the country have been retrofitted or replaced. Scores have been funded with federal grants in Ohio, including in Cleveland, Bexley and Worthington school districts, according to the EPA.

An Ohio EPA program so far has supported retrofitting of 545 school buses in 26 districts, with $1.4 million in grants, spokeswoman Linda Fee Oros said Monday. They include buses in Riverside schools in Lake County in Northeast Ohio, Lakewood schools in Licking County in central Ohio, and Mason schools in Warren County in southwest Ohio.

Bob Engel, transportation director for Northwest Local Schools in suburban Cincinnati, said more than a third — 35 buses — of the district’s fleet have been retrofitted.

“We’d have 102 buses idling out in the lot. You can imagine there’s a lot of fumes,” Engel said. “Now, it doesn’t seem so bad. It [the retrofitting] does seem to help cut down on the pollution.”

Edgell said the retrofits likely don’t make a dent in the region’s air quality ratings, but they do help a primary goal of providing a healthier environment for children.