Mo. DNR honors schools for air quality projects

JEFFERSON CITY, Mo. (AP) -- A state agency has recognized the Willard School District and Drury University's Ozarks Center for Sustainable Solutions for a project to cut diesel emissions in southwest Missouri.

The Department of Natural Resources received about $2.7 million in grant money for the Diesel Emission Reduction Act for two projects in Missouri.

The department issued subgrants to the Ozarks Center to retrofit and replace diesel engines in southwest Missouri. The Willard School District was the first school in the area to get two new school buses under the center's initiatives.

DNR says the two new buses emit about 76 to 90 percent fewer pollutants than the buses they replaced.