Pollution Prevention Partnership Honored by Environmental Protection Agency

Gretchen Arnold

The University’s Pollution Prevention Partnership (P3) has been honored as a “Blue Skyways Partner” by the U.S. Environmental Protection Agency. P3 Director Gretchen Arnold accepted the award during the EPA’s semi-annual meeting in St. Louis, Mo., in October.

Through its AutoCheck program, the P3 has screened more than 20,000 vehicles and funded the repair of approximately 120 polluting vehicles at participating repair shops. According to the EPA, the AutoCheck program has reduced pollution in the Corpus Christi area by 766 tons a year.

The Blue Skies Collaborative, which encourages voluntary air emissions reductions through innovations in diesel equipment, alternative fuels, renewable energy technologies and energy efficiency, is composed of industry, nonprofit and environmental groups. Participating states are Arkansas, Iowa, Kansas, Louisiana, Minnesota, Missouri, Nebraska, New Mexico, Oklahoma and Texas.