Dan bus company blows smoke about pollution controls - Haaretz

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Wed., August 08, 2007 Av 24, 5767

Israel Time: 01:56 (EST+7)

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Dan bus company blows smoke about pollution controls

By Zafrir Rinat

The sight of a Dan bus leaving behind a cloud of pollution will remain familiar to residents of the Dan region, despite the company's promises to the contrary.

According to company data released this week, its fleet of 960 city buses will soon become significantly more environmentally friendly, reducing one of the main causes of air pollution in the region. To begin with, Dan will install catalytic converters on 200 of its Euro 2 buses, one of the most polluting models in the fleet.

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However at present, Dan buses still emit more than eight tons of particle pollutants each year.

"We are in the process of decommissioning the Euro 0 and Euro 1 models, and bringing in the most advanced, least polluting Euro 4 models," Dan official Meir Bracha says. "Our intention is to decommission all the Euro 0 and Euro 1 models within two years, and every year we will be adding 100 Euro 4 model buses."

Meanwhile, however, 200 polluting Euro 2 buses will continue to operate next year, with catalytic converters reducing pollution via a chemical reaction. The converters will be installed at a cost of almost NIS 1 million.

Some 600 people die every year as a result of exposure to pollutants in the Dan region, one of Israel's most polluted areas. This month, according to Environmental Protection Ministry data, pollution exceeded permissible levels at the Central Bus Station nine times over. The average nitrogen dioxide levels in that area were found to be the highest in the Dan region.

Pollution levels remained high in the area even after Reading station made the move to natural gas.

According to environmental planning company Eshel's plan to counter pollution, public transportation causes 80 percent of the various types of particle pollution that penetrate the respiratory system. Buses emit an average of 116 times more nitrogen oxide than private vehicles and 40 times more particle pollution.

The Environmental Protection Ministry issued an order six years ago to specific individuals in the Dan company, obligating Dan to continue to reduce pollution.

However, up until last year, it did not meet its obligations. Two years ago, the ministry sued Dan in the Tel Aviv Magistrate's Court to force it to meet its pollution-reduction goals. Dan was fined NIS 200,000.

Bracha says the company will meet the goal it has been set of reducing particle pollution by 50 percent compared to 2004 (amounting to 14 tons of particle pollutants) within three years.

Shuli Nezer, head of air quality control at the Environmental Protection Ministry said the ministry supported installing converters, which "indeed significantly reduce pollution."

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