Mellano & Company, Kendall Farms get grants from air pollution district

Joe Naiman

Village News Correspondent

Mellano & Company in Morro Hills and Kendall Farms in Rainbow are among the recipients of Carl Moyer Program grants from the San Diego County Air Pollution Control District.

The San Diego County Board of Supervisors members are also the board of the San Diego County Air Pollution Control District, and Nov. 15 the county supervisors voted 5-0 to allocate $12,920,659.00 of Carl Moyer Program grants, including $67,059.00 for Mellano & Company and $52,918.00 for Kendall Farms.

In 1998 the California Air Resources Board implemented the Carl Moyer Memorial Air Quality Standards Attainment Program, which is named after a former technical advisor to California air quality agencies and provides grants to accelerate the retirement of older diesel engines. The emission reduction projects include retrofits, engine replacements, and complete vehicle replacements.

Carl Moyer Program grant requests are evaluated for emissions reductions and cost effectiveness and are competitively awarded each year to local businesses and public entities. The projects providing the greatest emissions reductions for the lowest cost are prioritized for funding. The grants approved Nov. 15 are expected to remove 148.33 tons of oxides of nitrogen (NOx), 14.93 tons of volatile organic compounds (also known as reactive organic gases), and 8.11 tons of particulate matter annually from San Diego County's air.

The equipment replacement grant to Mellano & Company is expected to provide an annual reduction of 0.77 tons of NOx, 0.09 tons of reactive organic gases, and 0.033 tons of particulate matter which equates to a cost of $4,887.91 per ton of annual emissions reduced. The Kendall Farms equipment replacement has an expected annual reduction of 0.79 tons of NOx, 0.11 tons of reactive organic gases, and 0.049 tons of particulate matter for a cost effectiveness of $3,117.82 per ton.