Overview:
- Southwest Detroit Environmental Vision secures a $3.2 million federal grant to replace 57 diesel trucks and a tugboat with cleaner options, including new diesel and propane trucks and a biodiesel-powered tugboat.
- This funding aims to cut diesel emissions in Michigan and nearby areas, marking the largest U.S. Environmental Protection Agency grant ever given to SDEV.
- The improvements will enhance trade routes between Detroit, Toledo, Windsor, and the Grand Rapids region, reducing emissions of diesel particulates and pollutants like nitrogen oxides, carbon monoxide, and hydrocarbons.
Trucking (and a tugboat company) are making significant upgrades this holiday season, aiming to cut diesel emissions by investing in cleaner vehicles and equipment.
The enhancements come courtesy of a $3.2 million federal grant awarded to the nonprofit Southwest Detroit Environmental Vision. The funds will go to to replace 57 diesel trucks and a tugboat with cleaner alternatives, including new diesel and propane trucks and a biodiesel-powered tugboat.
SDEV will carry out this work thanks to funding from the Diesel Emissions Reduction Act and the Diesel Emission Reduction in Michigan Initiative. This is the largest U.S. Environmental Protection Agency grant ever awarded to SDEV. It’s part of a broader effort to reduce diesel emissions in Michigan and surrounding areas.
“Everyone deserves to breathe clean air, but too many communities are still burdened with pollution from older diesel equipment,” Debra Shore, EPA Region 5 administrator, said in a press release. “With the latest round of funding, EPA’s successful DERA program will upgrade these sources of harmful pollution for a cleaner, healthier Detroit.”
About a dozen trucking companies are ordering their new diesel or propane trucks this month, Raquel Garcia, executive director of SDEV, told Planet Detroit. These trucks will replace older diesel or propane trucks that meet or exceed current EPA emissions standards.
The Gaelic Tugboat Company, based in Southwest Detroit, is upgrading its diesel tugboat with a biodiesel engine. The 100-year-old family-owned company was awarded funds from DERMI to make the replacement in time for the 2026 shipping season.
Trade corridors between Detroit, Toledo, and Windsor and the Grand Rapids region will benefit from reduced emissions of diesel particulate matter and other pollutants such as nitrogen oxides, carbon monoxide, and hydrocarbons, Garcia said in a press release. The grant ends November 2026.
DERA-funded projects typically include retrofitting or replacing legacy school buses, transit buses, heavy-duty diesel trucks, marine engines, locomotives and other heavy-duty equipment with new, cleaner technologies, according to the press release.
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‘Incremental’ impacts on diesel emissions
Southwest Detroit is “deeply intertwined with industry,” Garcia said, noting that the Ambassador Bridge handles 10,000 trucks daily.
Diesel emissions contain more than 40 toxic air contaminants, including many known or suspected cancer-causing substances, such as arsenic and formaldehyde, according to an assessment from the American Lung Association.
These emissions contribute to a range of respiratory issues, including asthma and bronchitis, affecting children, older adults and other vulnerable populations the most. This year, Detroit was named the third worst city to live in with asthma.
Keith Rodgerson, a Southwest-based installation artist and urban planner, spoke to Planet Detroit after recently being hospitalized for asthma. That’s nothing new for him or for his 14 year-old-son.
He said both developed asthma nine years ago after moving to the area. Rodgerson said he spends several days in the hospital a few times a year, being treated for asthma.
“It has kept me from caring for my child and [impacted] my livelihood,” Rodgerson said. “It greatly diminishes one’s capacity for life.”
While Rogerson said he is happy the grant came through, he remains frustrated with the slow and incremental nature of improvements to the problem.
“Incremental impacts to the air quality in southwest Detroit mean incremental impacts to the literal lung capacity of our children, of our seniors, of those of us that have become disabled by this condition,” Rodgerson said.
He added the Biden administration has “done way too little” to address the problem,” he said. “We take what we can get.”
Replacing outdated diesel trucks with cleaner vehicles could reduce harmful air pollutants such as particulate matter, nitrogen oxides and carbon monoxide, according to the press release.
Rodgerson acknowledged that these improvements may lead to “shorter hospital visits, longer lives, incrementally more functional lives, but by no means do incremental measures lead to full functional outcomes.”
Broader biodiesel efforts across Michigan
DERMI is working with other groups, including Michigan Clean Cities and the Michigan Advanced Biofuels Coalition to reduce over 3,000 tons of diesel emissions annually, according to the press release.
Replacing petroleum-based diesel with biodiesel can immediately decrease greenhouse gas emissions by 74 percent, said Hanna Campbell, market development director for the Michigan Soybean Committee in Michigan Advanced Biofuels Coalition.
“Interest in biodiesel is growing as owners of vessels on the Great Lakes seek to become more environmentally focused,” Campbell said. “Among alternative fuels, biodiesel stands apart as a practical, readily available option to help reduce emissions and decarbonize the shipping industry.”
Biodiesel is a renewable, biodegradable fuel made in the U.S. from vegetable oils, animal fats, or recycled restaurant grease.
SDEV and their project partners said they have reduced more than 5,000 tons of diesel emissions over the last 14 years with funds from EPA clean diesel grants totaling over $8.9 million.