For Immediate Release

E85 Grows to the Northeast…..
First Station Pumping E85 in Connecticut
 

(Above) Bill Morrison, Richard Baron,
Janice Snyder, and Peter Marchese of ConnDOT.

Jefferson City, MO – The first E85 fueling facility in the state of Connecticut began pumping the clean-burning product on June 25, 2003.  The location at the Connecticut Department of Transportation (ConnDOT) in Newington plans to fuel about 475 flexible-fuel vehicles and hope to expand fueling to approximately 800 vehicles over the next year.   

Along with the Connecticut Department of Administrative Services, Fleet Operations (DAS), and financial support from the National Ethanol Vehicle Coalition, Janice Snyder, ConnDOT’s Assistant Director of Purchasing
Material Management, and Richard Baron, ConnDOT Equipment Repair Manager worked to get the pump up and running.  

“Connecticut DOT is receptive to and sensitive of the need to utilize alternative fuels,” said Snyder.  ConnDOT’s utilization of the E85 product is in an effort to meet the mandate required by the Energy Policy Act (EPAct).  EPAct was passed by Congress in 1992 to help reduce our nation's dependence on imported petroleum by requiring certain fleets to acquire alternative fuel vehicles (AFVs). 

“Janice and her group took up the challenge and succeeded,” commented Lee Grannis, Clean Cities Coordinator for New Haven.  “I grew up in Kentucky where we grew corn.  I am in full support of how this will help farmers in the demand for renewable energy.” 

Another 334 vehicles are planned to be reassigned near the facility to take advantage of the 6,000 gallon tank. 

“As more FFV’s are purchased by the DAS and the Department of Transportation,” said Snyder, “they will be assigned to E85 fueling areas and usage will increase.  It is the intent of the DOT to cooperatively work with the Department of Administrative Services’ Fleet Operations Office to expand E85 availability into other key areas of Connecticut to secure usage by State of Connecticut vehicles through administrative direction.”   

Phil Lampert, Executive Director of the National Ethanol Vehicle Coaltion stated, “The NEVC would like to thank officials in the state of Connecticut for their contributions and efforts to increase the use of domestically produced transportation fuels.  While there are no ethanol producers in the state, Connecticut realized that E85 was a commodity that is available on a national basis.  This new facility in the northeast is but a start in our long-term efforts to make E85 available in all 50 states and at numerous and readily accessible locations.  In the next several weeks, new E85 fueling stations are going to continue to open from one end of the nation to the other, in such diverse locations as San Diego, California in the west, to Kennedy Space Center in the east.” 

For more information about E85, fueling locations, or flexible-fuel vehicles, visit www.E85Fuel.com.

(Right) Valerie Joyner, ConnDOT’s
Administrator of Operations and
Support Services,
fills her car up with E85.