CleanScapes, Inc., a newly-designated City of Seattle, WA solid waste contractor, has awarded Clean Energy Fuels Corp. a contract for up to 10 years to build and operate a compressed natural gas (CNG) station and provide fuel for CleanScapes’ 40 new CNG-powered refuse trucks.

Clean Energy’s fuel contract with CleanScapes includes a preferential fuel pricing provision. The new CleanScapes time-fill CNG fuel station, to be designed, built and operated by Clean Energy, will be located south of Seattle’s downtown area. Starting in April 2009, CleanScapes will deploy the CNG fleet to provide waste collection services to more than 64,000 residential and business customers in the Central and Northeast sections of Seattle.

Chris Martin, CleanScapes’ president, says, “Seattle has been a national leader in greenhouse gas emissions reduction. Our Mayor, Greg Nickels, has led the effort to have cities agree to abide by the Kyoto Protocol. During the bidding process, we felt it could be to our advantage to propose a CNG fleet. After careful analysis, we determined that a CNG fleet would bring significant environmental and economic benefits.”

“The CNG trucks will be used mainly for residential collection and will provide a very welcome reduction of emissions and noise levels in some of the most populated areas of Seattle,” Martin adds.

James Harger, senior vice president, Clean Energy, says, “We congratulate the CleanScapes team on its successful bid to provide municipal solid waste services in Seattle, and we are proud to work with them to support one of the first CNG-powered trash truck fleets in Washington State.” Harger adds that CNG trucks are quieter running and will substantially reduce polluting emissions as compared to the diesel trucks they will replace. In addition, Harger notes, the switch from diesel to CNG fuel will result in major fuel cost savings.

For more information, visit www.cleanenergyfuels.com and www.cleanscapes.com.