State VW settlement fund pays for Belmont's new plow truck

BELMONT — For drivers, the new plow truck will be a more comfortable and safer place to spend time. For the environment, the truck will make kinder emissions than the one it replaces. But for townspeople, perhaps the best part about the Department of Public Works’ new truck is it was purchased without the use of taxpayer dollars.

The newest member of the public works fleet is a 2024 plow truck manufactured by Western Star. It replaces a 2006 International that plowed its last road.

Craig Clairmont, public works director, said the town was able to welcome the vehicle into its service as a result of the Granite State Clean Fleets program, administered by the state’s Department of Environmental Services and funded by an environmental mitigation fund.

That fund dates back to Volkswagen’s so-called “dieselgate”, during which the German automaker was found to have skirted U.S. emissions laws by programming its diesel-powered vehicles to run differently when being tested than they did during regular driving — and in doing so, emit nitrogen oxide at levels well above federal standards.

Federal regulators believe 580,000 vehicles, model years 2009 to 2016, were sold during the “dieselgate” era, and as part of its penalty VW agreed to a $15 billion settlement with the Department of Justice. Of that penalty, $2.9 billion, was used to seed the mitigation fund, and New Hampshire used a share of that fund to take older diesel vehicles off the road and replace them with electric vehicles or with cleaner, newer-burning diesel engines.

“When you get a plow that’s 20 years old, starting to require a lot of down time, repair and replacement parts, it’s nice to have something newer, front-line,” Clairmont said.

The 2006 International didn’t just get replaced. The older truck, per terms of the grant, had to be rendered incapable of further operation — its frame has been cut and a hole was drilled into its engine block.

The new truck is diesel-powered, but it has a system that injects a urea solution into the exhaust stream, which catalyzes a process that splits the nitrous oxide into harmless nitrogen and water molecules.

The Western Star, which has a dump truck bed and can carry both a front and a wing plow, will also be more comfortable for its drivers, which should translate into less driver fatigue and therefore greater safety, especially during longer plowing events when public works employees can spend long hours behind the wheel in order to keep the roads safe for other drivers.

“I’m hoping that it gives us as much service as the one it’s replacing,” Claremont said. “It’s a sharp truck.”

The new truck, now the gem of the department’s five-truck plow fleet, didn’t cost the taxpayers a dime, which Clairmont said was thanks to the efforts of Brian Jackes, assistant director, who put in the “ton of work” to secure the grant for Belmont — and in doing so, saved taxpayers from having to foot the $207,520 bill.

“It was a competition-based grant. We applied for two, we got one. We feel very fortunate that we got one,” Clairmont said. “The cost of equipment is skyrocketing just like everything else. We just want to make sure that the taxpayers know we’re in their corner. We’re fighting to improve our situation for them at all times.”