Subzero temperatures Thursday morning halted or slowed dozens of Jefferson County Public Schools buses that use a new bio-diesel fuel, leaving children out in the cold in northern and central parts of the county and causing delays.
The bio-diesel fuel – made from a mixture of 80 percent petroleum and 20 percent virgin-stock soybean – gelled and clogged fuel filters on more than 40 buses in the northern part of the county, affecting half the routes there, district officials said.
“I took my daughter down to the bus stop, and she wasn’t one of the poor kids who had to stand out there in the freezing cold and wait. She waited in my car,” said April Mearsha, 28. “A good 15 minutes went by, and the buses still hadn’t come, so me and another parent made the decision to tell all the other kids to go home and not wait any longer.”
The state’s largest school district began using bio-diesel fuel about a year ago after receiving a grant to reduce emissions.
“We noticed early on that the bio-diesel fuel had a tendency to clog up fuel filters on our buses that were 20 years or older,” said Rick Kaufman, district spokesperson. “With this really cold weather, it impacted our newer buses as well.”
The clogged fuel filters either slowed buses or stopped them completely, officials said.
The district’s south and west terminals do not use the bio-diesel fuel and were not affected, Kaufman said.
“We didn’t put two and two together until our mechanics got the buses back into the terminals and began realizing that they weren’t getting any fuel,” said Rob Schmedeke, director of transportation for district’s north terminal.
The district is looking at ways to avoid the problem, including talking with the bio-diesel’s locally based manufacturer, Schmedeke said.
The grant funding also is no longer available, and the district is looking at either discontinuing the use of bio-fuel or finding other ways to fund the program.
Staff writer Manny Gonzales can be reached at 303-820-1537 or mgonzales@denverpost.com.
