The Westmoreland Conservation District, an organization that promotes the wise use of our natural resources, has recently purchased two clean-burning natural gas vehicles and installed a “slow-fill” station on its campus to fuel them, thanks to major financial support from Peoples Natural Gas and the Department of Environmental Resources.

The vehicles – two Ford F150 pickup trucks – are being used by the conservation district’s technical staff, who travel to farms, forests, and commercial and residential development sites throughout Westmoreland County to ensure that work being done there includes measures to protect our natural resources.

(Photo: With one of the Westmoreland Conservation District's new compressed natural gas vehicles are (l-r): Greg Phillips, district manager/CEO; Jeffrey Nehr, vice president, Commercial Operations, Peoples Natural Gas; Westmoreland County Commissioner Ted Kopas, district board member; and Barry Kukovich, manager, Communications and Community Affairs, Peoples Natural Gas.)

“Our staff drive a total of about 18,000 miles every year in the course of our work, and so when we had a chance to reduce the impact of that travel, improve air quality, and reduce dependence on imported fuel – all of which the natural gas vehicles do – we were all for it,” said Greg Phillips, Westmoreland Conservation District manager/CEO.  “Natural gas vehicles are a perfect fit with our mission of protecting the environment and conserving resources.”

The vehicles were purchased locally as traditional gasoline-powered pickup trucks and converted to also run on natural gas by Alternative Fuel Solutions of Mehaffey, Pennsylvania at a cost of $9,500 each.  Each truck’s natural gas capacity is equivalent to 21.5 gallons of gasoline, which the organization estimates will provide about 450 miles of travel per fill up.

“We’ve had the vehicles in operation only a short amount of time, but we anticipate that using compressed natural gas will result in significant fuel cost savings for our organization – perhaps as much as $1,500 a year.  We also expect to save on some of the traditional vehicle operating expenses because there is less wear and tear on the engines with compressed natural gas, and less need for preventative maintenance (oil changes and general engine service),” Phillips said.

Using compressed natural gas also benefits the environment, avoiding possible fuel spills into waterways and significantly reducing emissions, including a 29 percent reduction in greenhouse gases compared to comparable gasoline vehicles, and reductions in NOx, volatile organic compounds, and particulates.

The new slow-fill natural gas fueling station was installed with the help of the Westmoreland County Public Works Department and Adam Eidemiller, Inc.  The station is very compact, about 3 feet by 3 feet by 5 feet, which is the size that a homeowner with a natural gas vehicle might someday have.   The station uses a compressor and fills the vehicles over a period of about eight hours. 

“This is a pioneering effort for us, marking the first slow-fill station that Peoples Natural Gas has donated to an organization in our 18-county service territory,” explained Barry Kukovich, the company’s manager of Communications and Community Affairs.

Compressed natural gas fueling stations also made a debut in another part of Westmoreland County just a few weeks before the conservation district acquired its station. 

In mid-November, Pennsylvania Turnpike Commission officials unveiled three “fast-fill” compressed natural gas fueling stations at the New Stanton service plaza, making it the first of the turnpike’s 17 plazas to offer the alternative fuel.

1/12/2015