Aqua America Inc. Chairman and CEO Nicholas DeBenedictis has announced that the company will transition portions of its fleet to compressed natural gas (CNG).

Aqua Pennsylvania, the company's largest subsidiary, plans to begin the transition with 20 dump trucks and 60 vans initially. According to Aqua America, the subsidiary has been piloting CNG vehicles for more than a year and has already planned for a slow-fill station at its Springfield Operations Center in Delaware County.

"Pennsylvania has always been an energy-rich state, with natural gas being its latest form," says DeBenedictis. "CNG makes sense economically because it is less expensive than fossil fuels and environmentally because it is a clean-burning fuel and thereby reduces carbon emissions."