According to Roseanne Bongiovanni, assistant excutive director of the Chelsea Collaborative, there are over 40,000 people living in Chelsea's 1.8 square miles. With approximately 400 trucks a day coming in and out of the New England Produce Market, the air quality in this neighborhood is extremly poor.
Thanks to the nearly $2 million Recovery Act award, the truck engines will be converted from diesel to electric, reducing the harmful emissions as well as creating manufacturing and operations jobs.
"This shows you can invest in jobs, the future and have a clean environment," said Bob Perciasepe, Deputy Administrator, US EPA.
Jeffrey Simon, director of the Massachusetts Recovery & Reinvestment Office, said the lives of Chelsea's residents will improve with this stimulus-funded project. "This will reduce fossil fuel emissions and air pollution," he said. "We are doing business in a way that makes the city a healthier place for its citizens."
Check out the difference an electric engine makes:
