HYDROGEN FUEL STATION IN THE WORKS CITY CONVERTING FIVE PRIUSES.

Byline: Alex Dobuzinskis Staff Writer

BURBANK - In an effort to promote the benefits of hydrogen fuel, the city and air regulators announced plans Wednesday to build a fueling station for cars that run on hydrogen instead of gas.

Burbank plans to have five Toyota Prius gas-electric hybrids converted to run on hydrogen fuel as part of a broader effort by the city to reduce air pollution through the use of new-vehicle technology.

``We want to get off petroleum and we're making great strides to do that,'' said City Councilman Todd Campbell, adding that he hopes other cities will invest in hydrogen-fuel technology.

The City Council voted 4-0 late Tuesday to spend $349,375 to buy the vehicles, pay for their fueling costs over five years and provide utilities and related services for the fueling station.

The South Coast Air Quality Management District will spend $1.4 million on the project, which includes converting the Priuses and paying for most of the costs of building the fueling station.

``We got a substantial amount in comparison with the amount we have to invest. Which means it's an efficient ... use of limited public funds,'' said Mayor Marsha Ramos.

The fueling station is expected to be finished by the end of the year, and will be built at the city's public works yard at 124 S. Lake St.

The $1.8 million project comes as the city prepares to return all but one of the nine electric compact SUVs it has been leasing from Toyota Motor Corp.

Toyota initially told Burbank officials the RAV4 vehicles needed to be returned when the lease expired in April. The company recently indicated that Burbank could extend the leases, but the city had already arranged to get replacement vehicles.

On Monday, protesters tried to block the shipment of recalled General Motors electric vehicles from a GM facility in Burbank, but the company eventually sent 28 of the cars to the crusher. A GM spokesman said the cars were recalled because of a lack of consumer interest in electric vehicles. The company is now developing zero-emission fuel-cell vehicles.

Officials said Burbank's hydrogen project could help in that initiative, by giving potential owners of fuel-cell vehicles a place to fuel up.

``This hydrogen internal combustion engine ... (works) as a bridge technology between the fuel-cell vehicles and the conventional-fuel vehicles, and they have the potential to considerably reduce emissions,'' said Tina Cherry, a spokeswoman for the AQMD.

The fuel-cell vehicles, which cost hundreds of thousands of dollars to make and are not available to the general public, produce no harmful emissions. The hydrogen-fuel combustion vehicles produce trace amounts of air pollution, officials said.

Alex Dobuzinskis, [phone]

alex.dobuzinskis(at)dailynews.com