Event in Waterloo to Demonstrate Railroad Diesel Emissions Reduction Project Funded by Federal Recovery Act

Contact: Mindy Kralicek, DNR Air Quality Information Specialist, (515) 991-0395 (cell); Kris Lancaster, EPA Public Affairs Specialist, (816) 896-0023 (cell July 20 - 22)

When: Wednesday, July 21, 2010, at 2 p.m. followed by tour for news media at 2:30 p.m.

Where: Iowa Northern Railway Company, 1330 Sheffield Avenue, Waterloo, Iowa

What: Iowa Northern Railway will demonstrate the operation of a newly converted railroad “slug,” a locomotive accessory that draws electrical power generated by an attached diesel locomotive to increase the locomotive’s pulling and braking power. The result is reduction of diesel emissions and fuel savings.

The railroad slug project was selected for financial support by the Iowa Department of Natural Resources through a competitive grant program funded by the American Recovery and Reinvestment Act of 2009.

Speakers:

• EPA Region 7 Administrator Karl Brooks
• Waterloo Mayor Buck Clark
• Iowa Department of Natural Resources spokesperson Mindy Kralicek
• Iowa Northern Railway Company President Dan Sabin

Background: Iowa Northern Railway hauls grain from Waterloo to Cedar Rapids and returns empty cars to customers along the rail line. Customers include ADM and Quaker Oats in Cedar Rapids, Hawkeye Renewables in Shell Rock, and Fairbank Tyson Frozen Pork and John Deere Tractor Works in Waterloo. Its entire fleet includes 20 locomotives and 500 rail cars.

The retirement of two engines converted into slugs will result in an air pollutant reduction estimate of 220.4 tons per year.

Diesel exhaust contains fine particles, 40 air toxics and greenhouse gases. When inhaled, the toxics and microscopic particles go deep into the lungs and enter the bloodstream. Particles accumulate in lungs over time and stop oxygen transfer to the blood. Asthma, bronchitis, difficulty breathing, even cancer and premature deaths can be attributed to unsafe levels of exposure to diesel exhaust.