The City of Desert Hot Springs, located in the Coachella Valley region of Riverside County, experiences episodes of high wind that causes sand to accumulate on road surfaces. These sand accumulations, refered to as "blowsand", are further ground into fine sand particles by automobile tires; the particles are often ground to diameters less than ten microns and are thus classified as "PM10". These fine sand particles are then "re-entrained", i.e, made airborne, into the atmosphere by passing vehicles, where they drift into populated areas of the region. PM10 caused by blowsand has been shown to consitute a health hazard in the Coachella Valley region of the South Coast AQMD.
The MSRC co-funded this project by paying the incremental cost of the CNG pickup. The balance of the project was funded by the City of Desert Hot Springs.
The City placed the CNG pickup into daily service immediately upon delivery and acceptance. The pickup truck refuels at the City-owned CNG refueling station at the City Maintenance Yard. Desert Hot Springs owns and operates medium and heavy-duty vehicles, including CNG street sweepers that are refueled at this station, whose construction was co-funded by the MSRC.
Desert Hot Springs CA, 92240
The objective of this project was to assist the City of Desert Hot Springs in aquiring the cleanest equipment used to remove blowsand accumulations in their jurisdiction. Under this project, the City purchased a compressed natural gas (CNG) pickup truck used to haul a skid steer broom. The broom is used to clean intersections and roadside areas where a traditional street sweeper cannot gain access or in areas where the accumulation of blowsand is too heavy for the street sweeper to remove.
When not being used in blowsand removal operations, the pickup is used by the City Maintenance and Operations crews for street and park maintenance and code enforcement.
The use of low-emission, alternative fuel vehicles is applicable to every city within the South Coast AQMD jurisdiction and required under AQMD Rules 1191 and 1196.
No problems or issues have been encountered since the vehicle was placed into service.
Upon delivery, the CNG pickup underwent a short period of acceptance testing by the City. Upon completion, the vehicle was placed into daily service.