Following discussion, the Washington County Board of Supervisors approved an agreement with the Iowa Department of Transportation for an Iowa Diesel Emission Reduction Act project Tuesday.

County Engineer Jacob Thorius informed the board last July that he applied for a Volkswagen diesel emission grant and they were then awarded up to 30% of the cost to replace a 20-year-old dump truck. Thorius updated the supervisors this week that they were now being reimbursed up to 35% or $77,000 to replace this truck with a Low NOx, or nitrogen oxides, dump truck. This program is funded by the Environmental Protection Agency Diesel Emission Reduction State Clean Diesel Grant Program and Iowa’s allocation of the Volkswagen Clean Air Act Civil Settlement.

As part of the agreement permanent scrapping of the vehicle being replaced is required, including drilling a three-inch diameter hole in the engine blocks and manifolds, and cutting the chassis frame. Some of the supervisors argued the ecological merit of the federal program, and Supervisor Bob Yoder disagreed with having to scrap the old vehicle rather than possibly selling it to someone else, “I’ll be real honest with you, I’ll go on record saying I’m very disappointed with our government making those rules but I realize we have no say in that issue. I’m not against taking the money, that part’s fine, it’s just destroying something that really doesn’t need to be destroyed.”

Thorius explained that if they were to sell the truck through auction they would likely receive $10,000, for a vehicle that’s estimated to cost $220,000 to replace. That would leave an approximate $60,000 gap to be paid by the taxpayers. Though he may not agree with all the requirements of the grant program, Thorius said his hands are tied. The county is required to disable the old truck by August 31st of next year.