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Mexico City, January 24, 2005 - “By retrofitting public transit buses, we can apply cutting-edge U.S. technology to pollution reduction,” U.S. Ambassador Tony Garza said today at a city bus depot. “It means 90 percent less pollution and that benefits 100 percent of the people living in this great city.”
The Ambassador took part in a “white glove” test to demonstrate that when a special filter device is fitted to a diesel bus the particles in the exhaust are reduced by over 90 percent. The technology, developed under a program of the U.S. Environmental Protection Agency (EPA), was applied to a fleet of buses in the Federal District.
Because diesel engine pollution is especially damaging to health, “we are here today in an effort to protect lives and also to emphasize the cooperation between our two countries,” the Ambassador said. “Since pollution does not recognize any borders, borders should not prevent us from fighting pollution when we can.”
The pilot program for Mexico City public transport buses was initiated in June 2004 by EPA Administrator Michael Leavitt during his visit here. The U.S. government provided $350,000 for the project for the half-million dollar project, while the Center for Sustainable Transportation of the World Resources Institute, based in Washington, contributed the rest.
The U.S. firms, Johnson Matthey Technology and Fleetguard Nelson, developed the devices that are installed in a bus muffler; and EPA testing showed that this technology efficiently reduced particle pollution.
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