The Great Lakes Zephyr - Wind Energy & Hydrogen Journal

UW-Madison News Release--Clean air

FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE
6/8/2004
CONTACT: Rob Kennedy, (608) 263-3027, rkennedy@fpm.wisc.edu

UW-MADISON JOINS DANE COUNTY PARTNERSHIP IN CLEAN AIR EFFORT

MADISON - A campuswide drive to prevent air pollution - involving steps ranging from buying more alternative fuel vehicles to hand trimming shrubbery on days when ozone could reach high levels -- was outlined Tuesday by UW-Madison Chancellor John D. Wiley.

The university is part of the Dane County Clean Air Coalition, which announced Tuesday that Clean Air Action Days will be used for the first time this summer when air quality and weather conditions show ozone levels could be elevated.

During the alerts, government agencies, businesses and citizens are asked to voluntarily take action to reduce ground-level ozone and keep Dane County's air healthy.

"The university is committed to working on every front to prevent air quality from deteriorating," Wiley says. "From changing our heating plant operations to alternative fuels for fleet use to free bus passes for students, faculty and staff, we will continue to be active in the coalition."

Wiley says the university will give employees advance notice of Clean Air Action Days, with specific recommendations, such as avoiding fueling and travel if possible.

In addition, the schedules of grounds crews will be changed to ensure that mowing will be done using equipment with better emissions ratings and incinerators will not be operated on Clean Air Action Days.

Employees will be instructed to postpone travel, keep tight seals on solvents, turn off delivery vehicles at every stop, and avoid "jack-rabbit" starts. Signs will be posted on fuel pumps urging postponement of fill-ups, if possible.

Grounds crews will refrain from chipping mulch and using chain saws, delay hedge-trimming or use hand tools, and limit mowing and using power equipment with two-stroke gasoline-powered engines.

Additionally, floor-stripping, waxing and painting with solvent-based paints will be delayed.

When the natural gas-powered West Campus Cogeneration Facility comes online in summer 2005, university officials will have the chance to change how existing heating plants on Charter Street and Walnut Street are operated to balance fuel costs and lower air emissions.

Wiley says that traditional gasoline-powered powered fleet vehicles used in Madison and around campus need to be phased out. Decisions on what fuels to use will be made along with coalition partners to gain economies of scale and enable sharing of alternative fueling stations.

Clean Air Action Days will also provide an opportunity to promote awareness of a number of existing campus programs which encourage use of more environmentally friendly means of transportation.

For example, all UW-Madison faculty, staff and students are eligible for Madison Metro bus passes that allow them unlimited bus rides. The university also provides a park and ride program, car and van pools, a free on-campus bus, flex parking, a bicycle program and a partnership with Community Car for a car-sharing option.

For more information on Clean Air Action Days and the coalition, visit www.cleanairdane.org.
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--Dennis Chaptman, (608) 262-9406







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University Communications
University of Wisconsin-Madison
27 Bascom Hall
500 Lincoln Drive
Madison, WI 53706

Phone: (608) 262-3571
Fax: (608) 262-2331