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Southeast Diesel Collaborative Leadership Award Winners Announced


Atlanta – WEBWIRE –

This week at the Southeast Diesel Collaborative (SEDC) 9th Annual Partners Meeting in Atlanta, GA, the U.S. Environmental Protection Agency (EPA) Region 4 Regional Administrator Heather McTeer Toney and Office of the EPA Administrator Acting Senior Advisor on Environmental Justice Mustafa Ali, on behalf of the SEDC, presented the SEDC Leadership Awards to the 2013 winners. The SEDC Leadership Awards recognize exemplary achievements improving air quality where we live, learn, work, and play by reducing diesel emissions. The awardees are:

Holmes Company of Jackson, Inc., Richland, Mississippi - SEDC Industry Leadership Award for

  • Significantly reducing diesel emission rates for the overall fleet by 13.9% in total,
  • Equipping 10 tractor trailer units with battery air conditioner units during 2013, increasing the use of these units to nearly 25% of their current fleet,
  • Educating their employees and business partners on benefits of improving the environment for their company.


DeKalb County, Georgia Sanitation Department - SEDC Community Leadership Award for
  • Reducing emissions from vehicles serving DeKalb County communities by adding 24 compressed natural gas (CNG) vehicles to their fleet in 2013, bringing their current total to 72 vehicles, significantly decreasing overall fuel costs for the fleet,
  • Operating a landfill methane gas collection and processing facility to lower emissions and provide renewable natural gas via pipeline to supply six CNG fueling stations in DeKalb County,
  • Opening its own CNG refueling station at Seminole Road Landfill in October 2012 to collect waste gas to use in their own vehicles that collect and handle the garbage, promoting the business case for using municipal waste as a renewable transportation fuel.


June Blotnick, Clean Air Carolina, Charlotte, NC - SEDC Visionary Champion Leadership Award for
  • Serving as Executive Director of Clean Air Carolina since 2005, where she has been instrumental in the North Carolina Clean Diesel Program, assisting school systems across the state in accessing federal and state funds for school bus retrofits and promoting idle reduction with the “Turn Off Your Engine” campaign,
  • Promoting clean construction practices to over 300 hospitals, 200 colleges and universities, and multiple municipalities in NC, including developing a toolkit of resources with the Clean Air Task Force and working with construction companies on diesel pollution impacts,
  • Successfully collaborating with New Belgium Brewery in Asheville, Charlotte-Douglas International Airport, City of Charlotte, North Carolina Division of Air Quality, and others on use of cleaner construction equipment, developing policies, and promoting projects and opportunities for cleaner air.



The efforts by Holmes Company of Jackson, the DeKalb County, Georgia Sanitation Department, and June Blotnick of Clean Air Carolina demonstrated exemplary leadership in the use of latest clean diesel technologies, and serve as a role model for others to follow in effective collaboration and partnership to reduce diesel emissions.

This is the sixth year the SEDC Leadership Council has presented the Leadership Awards to recognize exemplary projects in emissions reductions in EPA Region 4. Nominated parties are judged on their effectiveness in meeting the SEDC’s goal to reduce emissions from existing diesel engines and the work done in several sectors to reduce these emissions. Previous years’ winners include United Parcel Service, Coca Cola Enterprises, Ingram Barge Company, Staples, Saddle Creek Logistics Services, North Carolina Solar Center, Hartsfield-Jackson Atlanta International Airport, Miami-Dade County, Florida Government, Alabama Department of Transportation, Georgia Ports Authority, Kentucky Clean Fuels Coalition, and Mecklenburg County, North Carolina GRADE Program.

Organized in early 2006 by EPA Region 4, the Southeast Diesel Collaborative has enjoyed unprecedented success in bringing together over 900 partners from federal, state and local governments, organizations, industry and academia to reduce diesel engine emissions across the eight southeastern states. Focused on promoting energy independence, a cleaner environment and growing, sustainable economies, this partnership offers wide ranging health and economic benefits to the public fleet, freight and non-road sectors.

The Southeast Diesel Collaborative is part of EPA’s National Clean Diesel Campaign, a program combining regulatory measures with voluntary initiatives to reduce the pollution emitted from diesel engines across the country. Visit the Southeast Diesel Collaborative website at: www.southeastdiesel.org.

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