Tulsa Mayor Dewey Bartlett (left) shakes hands with Brent Jones, director of equipment management for the city of Tulsa, following a news conference at the city's newly opened CNG station about the city's greener fleet Tuesday. CORY YOUNG/Tulsa World
By BRIAN BARBER World Staff Writer
Published: 3/8/2011 5:40 PM
Last Modified: 3/8/2011 5:40 PM

As Tulsa officials prepare to increase the fuel budget by $1.1 million due to rising gas prices, Mayor Dewey Bartlett on Tuesday emphasized the city’s long-term commitment to use more compressed-natural-gas vehicles.

It would not only be cheaper, Bartlett said, it would be better for the environment.

“We need to lead by example,” he said.

The mayor at a news conference announced the opening of a high-speed CNG fueling station in the city’s west maintenance yard, 420 W. 23rd St.

It can fuel two vehicles simultaneously and will serve the city’s 17 vehicles that run on CNG.

The station completes the first phase of an $875,000 project, which is funded with $477,000 from federal energy grants and money from the city and its trash authority. Five of the CNG vehicles are trash trucks.

There are two other phases coming up, including the construction of six CNG fueling points for the trash trucks and a retail CNG fueling station, which will be open to the public.

The public station also will be in the west maintenance yard and will be completed by the end of 2011.

Read more from this Tulsa World article at http://www.tulsaworld.com/news/article.aspx?subjectid=11&articl...


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