Governor Pataki recognizes school districts

Governor George Pataki visited Monroe County on April 22, Earth Day, to recognize three school districts' transportation departments for their work in installing converters which reduce particulate and other emissions from school buses. "These converters should reduce emissions by half," Gov. Pataki said. "That means 185 buses in Monroe County are running cleaner. New York is the first state in the nation to fund this program. New York State has invested $5 million in NYSERDA funds to support this program." Attending the ceremony were, from left, Hilton Assistant Superintendent for Business Steven Ayers, Hilton Director of Transportation Fred Paye, Hilton Bus Driver Charles Ricker, and Interim Superintendent of Schools Josephine Kehoe. The event took place at Thornell Road School in the Pittsford Central School District. New York State Energy Research and Development Authority (NYSERDA) granted the Hilton Transportation Department $87,000 to retrofit buses with emission control devices which employ diesel particulate and soot filters as well as stationary catalytic reduction systems which will be installed on the heavy-duty engines found on school buses. The converters are manufactured by Cummins/Fleetguard and are expected to be on the cutting edge of technologies which will be required by emissions regulations by the end of the decade.