A dirty job is about to get a lot cleaner.
Laura Weber, SRMT Solid Waste Management Director, said, "We want to be able to operate and offer our services in the most environmentally friendly way possible that we can."
The St. Regis Mohawk Tribe is gearing up to run their garbage trucks on used vegetable oil. And they're looking to students at Clarkson University to build a bio diesel plant, small enough to fit inside the tribe's transfer station.
Samuel Gorton, Clarkson Engineers Without Borders President, said, "We're looking at processing like 3,000 gallons a month, which makes the design rather simple."
Vegetable oil from the Akwesasne Mohawk Casino's restaurant will be converted into biodiesel and used as fuel, saving the tribe $1500 a year.
Weber said, "We're not going to have all the hydro carbon emissions you typically get out of a diesel operating truck, so there is that benefit, and of course, that's a plus too."
Once the plant is up and running, students from Engineers Without Borders will show tribe members how to use it.
Amy Zander
Amy Zander, Engineers Without Borders Advisor, said, "While we're helping St. Regis Mohawk Tribe attain sustainability, both environmentally and economic, we're also cleaning the environment and giving students here an opportunity to make a difference."
Equipment for the bio diesel plant will cost nearly $8,000 in funding. But the lasting effects will not go to waste.
The bio diesel plant should be in place sometime in the fall.