CATA, whose buses operate on compressed natural gas, first partnered with what was then Uni-Mart to install a CNG fueling station in 2001, but technical difficulties thwarted the effort.

CATA announced Friday that those issues were recently resolved, and the fuel is once again available for purchase. The Uni-Mart location is the only public fueling facility for CNG between Pittsburgh and Philadelphia.

“Fueling stations for CNG are few and far between at this point in time,” Nick Soccio, CATA’s facilities manager, said in a news release. “By providing the fuel at their West College Avenue Uni-Mart Exxon station, Lehigh Gas has made CNG-powered vehicles a much more viable option for consumers in central Pennsylvania.”

Pete Waldron, vice president of marketing for Lehigh Gas, said the company has dabbled in the CNG arena before, having installed a CNG dispenser at an Allentown Uni-Mart for test use by a company-owned CNG vehicle.

“With the natural gas infrastructure already in place in State College, it made sense to get this dispenser operating for consumers,” Waldron said.

“Lehigh Gas is always open to exploring various alternative-fuel sources that we feel may be beneficial to the general public.’’



Buck