Public-access CNG fueling station opened

Golden Eagle Distributors, Inc. and Trillium CNG hosted a green ribbon cutting ceremony to officially open a public-access compressed natural gas (CNG) fueling station located on Golden Eagle's headquarters property. The new fueling station provides much needed infrastructure for the growing CNG market.

Principals from Golden Eagle, TrilliumCNG, and Golden Eagle's fleet partner Ryder System, along with Tucson Mayor Jonathan Rothschild, members of the city council, and other civic, community and sustainability leaders, attended a ribbon-cutting ceremony and demonstration of the new facility Tuesday at Golden Eagle's 705 E Ajo Way location.

The public fueling station will refuel Golden Eagle's local fleet of 23 compressed natural gas heavy duty vehicles as well as sell CNG to commercial fleets and retail consumers with CNG-equipped vehicles.

"We've made the commitment to use CNG in our local operations and to support sustainability in this community by opening a public CNG station," said Christopher Clements, CEO, Golden Eagle Distributors, Inc. "Through our partnerships with Ryder and Trillium, we are able to take advantage of both the cost savings and environmental savings of converting our heavy duty fleet to CNG. By opening this public station, we will provide more of the needed infrastructure for other local business and individuals to choose CNG."

"We are excited to support Golden Eagle in their pioneering efforts to make use of a clean, domestic and abundant resource - natural gas fuel," said Charles Koontz, VP of Commercial Operations for Trillium CNG. "The low price of CNG is changing the equation for truck fleets and with this CNG fuel station opening, it will provide more opportunity for other businesses in Tucson to choose CNG."

CNG is one of the cleanest fuels currently available for use in heavy-duty trucks. Its use reduces particulate matter emissions to up to 86 percent, carbon monoxide emissions by 80 percent, nitrogen oxide emissions by up to 32 percent, and carbon dioxide emissions by 25 percent. As an additional benefit, CNG offers cost savings compared to traditional fuels and runs quieter than diesel trucks.

The CNG fueling station and local CNG vehicles are part of Golden Eagle's broader sustainability efforts in Arizona. Further CNG efforts include recent conversion of the heavy duty truck fleet at Golden Eagle's Casa Grande facility and the on-going construction of a public CNG fuel station on the Casa Grande property. Golden Eagle currently operates 28 CNG heavy duty vehicles which deliver 450 different beers and other beverages to over 1,700 retailers.

In 2010, the company was recognized as Arizona's Greenest Workplace by Mrs. Green's World, a website that promotes sustainability. This spring, Beverage World Magazine named Golden Eagle 2012 Fleet of the Year for their industry leading CNG efforts. Also this year, Golden Eagle was recognized by the Better Business Bureau with the Good Neighbor Award for their environmental and community service contributions to the Tucson community.