Santa Fe Catalytic Converter Builder Will Help Clean Nevada’s Air
New Mexico Business Weekly - January 2002
A Santa Fe company will soon be helping keep the air clean in Las Vegas, Nevada’s booming construction zones.
CleanAIR Systems, Inc. was recently awarded a contract to retrofit more than 50 heavy-duty construction vehicles with a combination muffler and catalytic converter, dramatically reducing pollution output. The contract is a part of the “Diesel Demonstration Project” undertaken by the Clark County Department of Air Quality, which is aimed at showing construction companies the benefits of reducing diesel emissions. The project will also help construction companies prepare for the likely onset of more stringent federal air quality regulations in coming years. The project is the largest such construction equipment retrofit of its kind in the West, according to Clark County officials.
The Clark County government will pay CleanAIR Systems $102,000 for the equipment to retrofit 50 vehicles from seven different construction companies. They will be using the Clean AIR Systems’ ASSURE™ product, which is a combination of catalytic converter and muffler, and which will replace the mufflers on the selected machines. Money for the test project comes from the state of Nevada. The Clark County Department of Air Quality received a grant for $500,000 from the state to pursue the project.
“This project is very important to us for two reasons. First, it gives us an opportunity to familiarize equipment owners with our emission control systems. Second, we are able to help the community of Clark County take a big step toward improving its air quality,” says CleanAIR Systems’ President, Michael Roach.
Nevada’s Clark County is one of the fastest-growing metropolitan areas in the country, with about 20,000 acres under construction at any given time. It’s also the temporary home of a large concentration of diesel-powered construction equipment. The exhaust produced by that equipment contains carbon monoxide, hydrocarbons and diesel particulate matter. The Environmental Protection Agency has already classified the Clark County region as a “serious” area for too-high levels of carbon monoxide and particular matter.
And although emissions from heavy-duty diesel construction vehicles aren’t regulated in Nevada, neighboring states have pursued aggressive restrictions. California is now finalizing rules that could mandate some form of emission control device on all diesel vehicles. Proposed regulations would go into effect in 2006.
“There had been a lot of complaints about dirty smoke belching out of construction equipment,” says Mike Justice, a California-based consultant to construction companies, many of which are in Nevada. “Industry leaders could see the writing on the wall,” Justice says.
But catalytic converters come with lots of baggage, says Roach. Early version of the technology tended to reduce an engine’s power. But when Justice and some of his clients tested CleanAIR Systems equipment, they found that the driver did not notice a difference.
Armed with reports like that, the Clark County Department of Air Quality embarked on its “Diesel Demonstration Project.” David Hoch, project manager with the Clark County Department of Air Quality Management says that the department is considering an incentive program to encourage other companies to voluntarily retrofit construction equipment with emission control devices, before federal regulations governing diesel emission particulates go into effect. Since combustion engines like those that concentrate in and around construction zones are primary sources, “The Environmental Protection Agency is going to go further on these standards,” says Hoch. “It’s going to be a whole new arena.”
Roach estimates the size of the retrofit market to be $10 billion. Although there are larger, competing companies, Roach says they focus on different markets. Companies like Engelhard Corporation in New Jersey and England’s Johnson Matthey are examples of such corporations. Third quarter sales for Englehard in 2001 came to $1.14 billion; sales for Johnson Matthey were in excess of $8.5 billion for 2000.
Roach says that as states like California establish stricter regulations over air quality, his market opportunities will grow. Hoch says the durability of diesel engines means that they’ll always be demand for such devices to retrofit construction equipment.
A Santa Fe company will soon be helping keep the air clean in Las Vegas, Nevada’s booming construction zones.
CleanAIR Systems, Inc. was recently awarded a contract to retrofit more than 50 heavy-duty construction vehicles with a combination muffler and catalytic converter, dramatically reducing pollution output. The contract is a part of the “Diesel Demonstration Project” undertaken by the Clark County Department of Air Quality, which is aimed at showing construction companies the benefits of reducing diesel emissions. The project will also help construction companies prepare for the likely onset of more stringent federal air quality regulations in coming years. The project is the largest such construction equipment retrofit of its kind in the West, according to Clark County officials.
The Clark County government will pay CleanAIR Systems $102,000 for the equipment to retrofit 50 vehicles from seven different construction companies. They will be using the Clean AIR Systems’ ASSURE™ product, which is a combination of catalytic converter and muffler, and which will replace the mufflers on the selected machines. Money for the test project comes from the state of Nevada. The Clark County Department of Air Quality received a grant for $500,000 from the state to pursue the project.
“This project is very important to us for two reasons. First, it gives us an opportunity to familiarize equipment owners with our emission control systems. Second, we are able to help the community of Clark County take a big step toward improving its air quality,” says CleanAIR Systems’ President, Michael Roach.
Nevada’s Clark County is one of the fastest-growing metropolitan areas in the country, with about 20,000 acres under construction at any given time. It’s also the temporary home of a large concentration of diesel-powered construction equipment. The exhaust produced by that equipment contains carbon monoxide, hydrocarbons and diesel particulate matter. The Environmental Protection Agency has already classified the Clark County region as a “serious” area for too-high levels of carbon monoxide and particular matter.
And although emissions from heavy-duty diesel construction vehicles aren’t regulated in Nevada, neighboring states have pursued aggressive restrictions. California is now finalizing rules that could mandate some form of emission control device on all diesel vehicles. Proposed regulations would go into effect in 2006.
“There had been a lot of complaints about dirty smoke belching out of construction equipment,” says Mike Justice, a California-based consultant to construction companies, many of which are in Nevada. “Industry leaders could see the writing on the wall,” Justice says.
But catalytic converters come with lots of baggage, says Roach. Early version of the technology tended to reduce an engine’s power. But when Justice and some of his clients tested CleanAIR Systems equipment, they found that the driver did not notice a difference.
Armed with reports like that, the Clark County Department of Air Quality embarked on its “Diesel Demonstration Project.” David Hoch, project manager with the Clark County Department of Air Quality Management says that the department is considering an incentive program to encourage other companies to voluntarily retrofit construction equipment with emission control devices, before federal regulations governing diesel emission particulates go into effect. Since combustion engines like those that concentrate in and around construction zones are primary sources, “The Environmental Protection Agency is going to go further on these standards,” says Hoch. “It’s going to be a whole new arena.”
Roach estimates the size of the retrofit market to be $10 billion. Although there are larger, competing companies, Roach says they focus on different markets. Companies like Engelhard Corporation in New Jersey and England’s Johnson Matthey are examples of such corporations. Third quarter sales for Englehard in 2001 came to $1.14 billion; sales for Johnson Matthey were in excess of $8.5 billion for 2000.
Roach says that as states like California establish stricter regulations over air quality, his market opportunities will grow. Hoch says the durability of diesel engines means that they’ll always be demand for such devices to retrofit construction equipment.
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