ANNAPOLIS, MD (October 8, 2004) – Over $200,000 from a settlement with Dominion Resources (VEPCO) will be used to reduce emissions from school buses in Prince George’s County, Governor Robert L. Ehrlich, Jr. announced today.

The funds will be used to purchase and install diesel oxidation catalysts on 81 school buses operated by the county.

“With a relatively small investment,” said Governor Ehrlich, “we will have an on-going, positive impact on the quality of air students breathe when they are on these buses.”

Altogether, the Maryland Department of the Environment received $600,000 from the settlement between Dominion Resources and the federal Environmental Protection Agency (EPA). Similar projects will be funded in Montgomery and Anne Arundel counties.

In 2003, Dominion Resources agreed to spend $1.2 billion to clean up eight power plants in Virginia and West Virginia. The company also agreed to provide $13.9 million for environmentally beneficial projects in the Northeast, including the $600,000 to clean up school buses in Maryland.

Retrofitting older diesel engines with diesel oxidation catalysts cuts the particulate matter by 20 percent, carbon monoxide by 40 percent and volatile organic compounds by 50 percent.

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