By TAYLOR BROWN
Carroll Township police, sporting a new ride, are doing their part to help the environment.
Thanks to a grant through a $300,000 Vehicle Emissions Reduction Fund housed at the Community Foundation of Westmoreland County, the department was able to purchase a new clean, low-emission Ford Police Interceptor utility vehicle.
The fund was created from a settlement obtained by Penn Environment from ArcelorMittal, the former operator of a coke plant in Monessen.
Penn Environment choose the CFWC to administer the fund because of the organization’s knowledge of its community, local issues and connections to area neighborhoods.
The goal of the fund is to help pay for projects that improve air quality and reduce vehicle emissions in the communities affected by air pollution from the coke plant.
CFWC partnered with the Mon Valley Alliance, a local nonprofit economic development organization, to help identify community needs. MVA CEO Ben Brown said the Alliance helped to develop a strategy and an application process for distributing the Vehicle Emission Reduction Fund grants.
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