IN ARLINGTON, NEW POLICE CARS RUNNING CLEANER

                         Roanoke Times
                 Copyright (c) 1995, Landmark Communications, Inc.

DATE: SUNDAY, February 28, 1993                   TAG: 9302280167
SECTION: VIRGINIA                    PAGE: C4   EDITION: NEW RIVER VALLEY 
SOURCE: 
DATELINE: ARLINGTON                                LENGTH: Short
IN ARLINGTON, NEW POLICE CARS RUNNING CLEANER
Police officers driving a new fleet of cruisers converted to run on natural gas say the experimental cars work better than many expected.
"I was skeptical at first," said Arlington County Officer Steve Missouri, whose 1991 Chevrolet Caprice Classic now runs on compressed natural gas. "But once they showed me I wasn't driving around with a bomb in my car it was fine."
The cruiser runs just as well on natural gas as it did on conventional gasoline, Missouri said. Some officers feared the cars would not perform as well in demanding situations, such as sudden accelerations or car chases.
Missouri and Ric Hiller, chief of the county's equipment division, said a driver must push harder on the accelerator to get the converted cars to move quickly. Hiller drives a converted Ford Crown Victoria.
The county received a $43,000 grant last year from the Virginia Department of Mines, Minerals and Energy to convert county vehicles to natural gas.
The state awarded the money to six communities, including Alexandria and Fairfax County, as part of a demonstration project for alternative fuels. - Associated Press

by Archana Subramaniam by CNB