The Toro Company (Toro) has signed an agreement with the Minnesota Pollution Control Agency (MPCA) to install a catalytic oxidizer system to control emissions at the company’s Bloomington engineering test facility. The new system will reduce carbon monoxide and other contaminants in the exhausted air by over 90% when it is fully operational. As per the agreement, Toro will pay a penalty of $30,000 and the system must be up and running by August 31, 2009.
Toro has discovered an issue with its current exhaust system in January 2008 and reported it to the MPCA. The company has started discussions on how to manage emission levels. The new system maximizes the benefit of engineering test group and goes a step further to help reduce other contaminants not currently regulated.
“This investment supports our commitment to responsible environmental practices and allows us to fully meet the agency’s requirements,” said Tom Hawkinson, corporate environmental, health and safety manager at Toro. “Much like a catalytic converter on an automobile, this new system helps reduce emission levels and other organic pollutants by converting them to water and carbon dioxide.”
Michael Drazan, vice president of corporate services, added, “We cooperated with the agency in solving the emissions issue we faced as we fully qualified our new line of professional mowers. It’s only through extensive testing that we can provide customers the high quality products they expect from Toro.”
Toro is partnering with Wenck Associates to design and install the scrubber technology. The total investment is around $1 million.