The Toro Co. recently reached an agreement with the Minnesota Pollution Control Agency to install a catalytic oxidizer system to control emissions at the company’s Bloomington, Minn., engineering test facility. When fully operational, the new system will reduce carbon monoxide and other contaminants in the exhausted air by more than 90 percent.

In January 2008, Toro discovered an issue with its current exhaust system, reported it to MPCA, and started discussions on how to manage emission levels. The new system not only maximizes the benefit of Toro’s engineering test group, which is key to the company’s innovation, but also goes a step further to help reduce other contaminants not currently regulated. Under terms of the agreement with MPCA, Toro will pay a penalty of $30,000 and the system must be up and running by Aug. 31.

“This investment supports our commitment to responsible environmental practices and allows us to fully meet the agency’s requirements,” said Tom Hawkinson, corporate environmental, health and safety manager at Toro. “Much like a catalytic converter on an automobile, this new system helps reduce emission levels and other organic pollutants by converting them to water and carbon dioxide.”

Michael Drazan, vice president of corporate services, added, “We cooperated with the agency in solving the emissions issue we faced as we fully qualified our new line of professional mowers. It’s only through extensive testing that we can provide customers the high-quality products they expect from Toro.”

Toro is partnering with Wenck Associates, an environmental engineering firm based in Maple Plain, Minn., to design and install the scrubber technology. The total investment is approximately $1 million.

Headquartered in Bloomington, Minn., the Toro Co. is a leading worldwide provider of turf and landscape maintenance equipment, and precision irrigation systems.