Stater Bros. Agrees to Cut Truck Fleet’s Diesel Exhaust

Stater Bros. supermarkets has agreed to convert 39 diesel trucks to clean-burning fuels under a legal settlement announced Wednesday with California and environmental groups.

The agreement concludes two years of litigation aimed at reducing diesel exhaust released from trucks at distribution centers serving the Southland’s largest markets. Similar agreements have already been reached with Ralphs, Safeway/Vons and Albertson’s/Lucky stores.

Under the agreement, Stater Bros. will reduce idling time for trucks and post warning signs at its Colton facility. The company will also participate in a clean-fuels demonstration project with the other supermarket chains. The project constitutes the largest alternative-fuels demonstration project of its kind in the country.

The state attorney general’s office and the Natural Resources Defense Council, an environmental advocacy group, filed suit in 1998, alleging that the supermarkets were violating California’s anti-toxins law, enacted by Proposition 65, and the Unfair Business Practices Act. The settlements provide a boost to low-polluting truck technologies that have had difficulty penetrating the market but which clean-air advocates want to see used in California.