Washington County Schools is in the process of building a new propane refilling station for its school buses that serve the north side of the county.
The new station is being built on the same site, near Daniel Boone High School, where there used to be a diesel refueling station. According to Dr. Jarrod Adams, Washington County Schools chief operations officer, the diesel station had been removed due to a leak caused by old equipment.
Because of this leak and the resulting safety hazard, the school system decided, at the time, to remove both diesel tanks that were at Boone and David Crockett High School. They instead offered bus drivers fuel cards that could be used to refuel at any gas station. Those fuel cards offered a more efficient and convenient way for drivers to fill up their buses no matter where they were in the county.
However, the schools are now looking to bring more convenient refueling options to drivers who operate propane-fueled buses in the northern part of the county. The system already has one propane station near its bus garage, which sits in between Jonesborough Middle and Elementary schools. The new station being built near Daniel Boone will be nearly an exact replica of the one in Jonesborough.
By AMBER BROPHY
abrophy@johnsoncitypress.com
Leaks and other such safety issues will not be a concern with the coming propane tank, which will be leased through Alliance AutoGas. This means that any damage due to aged equipment or incidents will be immediately addressed at no cost to the schools.
Washington County Schools have redone the lot that has been designated to house the propane station and it has been laid out to give bus drivers safe and easy access to the propane pump. It will be outfitted with locked gates, concrete bollards, underground electricity, and lock controls that will keep the facility secure.
“It’s really a convenience thing,” Adams said. “It saves us money, but it’s also good for the environment when we use a natural gas as a fueling source.”
Washington County has 18 propane buses out of the 78 big buses that serve the county. Of these 18 buses, seven will be serving schools in the northern part of the county, including Ridgeview Elementary and Daniel Boone.
Since bus drivers are allowed to take the buses home with them, and they often have to run multiple trips to make sure that all students get home safely, it will be much more convenient for them to have two different options for refueling propane.
“It’s really just a good move for us as we move to try to keep things green in Washington County,” Adams said. “And you know, I’m proud of the fact that Washington County is trying to lead the way with propane buses and electric school buses in the region.”
All of the buses that Washington County Schools use are Bluebird buses and can be identified by the bluebird symbol. The buses that run on propane can be identified by a green bluebird symbol near the front of the bus.
The school system is working to continue adding propane-fueled and electric buses to its fleet, so that, as Adams said, they can continue to make Washington County a greener place to live.
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