The Port of Pittsburgh Commission has received a $1.15 million grant from the U.S. Environmental Protection Agency to install less polluting diesel engines and generators in four towboats used on Pittsburgh area rivers.

According to the EPA, the Port of Pittsburgh and three participating marine towing companies -- Consol, Campbell Transportation and River Salvage -- will contribute $1.9 million in matching funding for the repowering project, which was announced yesterday at a news conference aboard RiverQuest's Explorer, an environmentally designed boat used as a floating environmental classroom and docked on the North Shore.

According to the EPA the project will reduce air pollution and lessen the overall environmental impacts of commercial river traffic.

J.D. Fogarty, the Port of Pittsburgh's director of development, said the engine retrofits will be done over the next year. When finished the towboats will have improved fuel efficiency by 30 percent and reduced emissions by a like amount.

There are approximately 90 towboats operating on the Monongahela, Allegheny and Ohio rivers around Pittsburgh and Mr. Fogarty said the Port will apply for a second round of funding to help with additional boat engine retrofits.

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