Clinton part of diesel waste grants.

As part of the Massachusetts Recovery Plan to secure the state's economic future, the Patrick-Murray Administration awarded $302,000 in grants to four municipalities and five private waste haulers to retrofit 132 diesel waste collection vehicles serving 62 communities across the Commonwealth.

Clinton received a $2,434 grant to retrofit one vehicle, while Casella Waste Systems, Inc. of Rutland, which has 11 vehicles serving a number of communities, including Clinton, received $23,344.

"Our MassCleanDiesel program targets vehicle emission reductions that protect the health of our citizens," Governor Deval Patrick said. "These grants will result in cleaner air in the neighborhoods where these waste trucks operate every week."

The grants, funded as part of the Department of Environmental Protection's (MassDEP) Waste Collection Vehicle Retrofit Program, have been awarded to the towns of Blackstone and Clinton, the cities of Chicopee and Springfield, and to private waste haulers based in Ashland, Auburn, East Boston, Rutland and Somerville that service multiple communities across the Commonwealth.

The grants are supported by $115,000 in federal American Recovery and Reinvestment Act (ARRA) funds, $82,000 from an enforcement settlement with the American Electric Power Co., and $105,000 in Diesel Emissions Reduction Act funds from the U.S. Environmental Protection Agency.

Depending on the vehicle owner's preference and the vehicle's operating system, the eligible trucks will receive one of three retrofit technologies: a diesel oxidation catalyst; a diesel flow through filter; or a diesel particulate filter. Two vendors, Southworth-Milton, Inc. of Milford and Shuster Corporation of New Bedford, will provide and install the equipment.

The retrofit equipment will be installed on the waste collection vehicle's exhaust system.