BNSF Railway looking at new technologies to reduce air pollution

Click title for story link. Winter Haven dismissed cancer concerns, but other parts of the nation do not look the other way when the health and welfare of it's residents is at jeapordy!!! Andrew Edwards, Staff Writer Article Launched: 11/10/2008 01:55:40 AM PST SAN BERNARDINO - Experimental exhaust filters, locomotives with multiple engines, and diesel engines with built-in brains are among the technologies that government officials and BNSF Railway executives are considering to reduce air pollution. BNSF has received serious criticism from Westside residents after environmental regulators announced earlier this year that people living near the 168-acre rail yard face elevated cancer risks. The danger, in the eyes of the California Air Resources Board, is the diesel pollution emitted by trucks and locomotives. The obvious imperative is to reduce diesel pollutions. One method that BNSF executives are already using to cut back on pollution is using engines that automatically shut down when left idling. Tom Ison, a BNSF executive who oversees hub operations from St. Paul, Minn., to Los Angeles said new diesel engines come equipped with an "electronic control module" that monitors how much fuel engines are consuming. "On a low idle, when it's not being used, it senses that," he said.