(Source: Business Wire)Choice Environmental Services hosted opening ceremonies at 12:30 p.m. today at its new Pompano Beach compressed natural gas (CNG) refuse truck fueling station. Designed, built and operated by Clean Energy Fuels Corp. (Nasdaq: CLNE), the private time-fill station is located on property owned by Choice, and will support the deployment of the waste and recycling firm's new fleet of clean-burning natural gas refuse trucks.

Choice Environmental is the first refuse company in South Florida to convert a portion of its operations to compressed natural gas (CNG) fuel. The new station also marks Clean Energy's entry into the Florida market.

Beginning November 1, the new fleet of natural gas trucks will roll out to serve Choice's residential and commercial customers in the City of Fort Lauderdale. The company's Florida service area encompasses Palm Beach, Broward, Dade and Collier counties. Choice has extensive operations throughout Southern Florida.

Government officials who addressed guests at the ribbon-cutting ceremony included:

Jack Seiler, Mayor of the City of Fort Lauderdale; Lamar Fisher, Mayor of Pompano Beach; and Broward County Commissioner Kristin Jacobs.

Choice's CEO Glen Miller hosted the event and said, "Choice is excited to be the leading environmentally-friendly waste company in Florida, with the introduction of our new CNG-powered vehicles that will serve our customers in Florida. CNG trucks reduce greenhouse gases emissions by 25% compared to conventional diesel-fueled trucks, and are up to 85% quieter while idling. Choice has plans to expand our fleet of CNG trucks, which exceed 2012 federal emissions standards, and to deploy them throughout the communities we service in South Florida. We are very pleased to partner with Clean Energy, TECO Peoples Gas, Autocar, and E-Z Pack to do our part to ensure a clean environment, and to help reduce America's dependence on foreign oil by converting to a domestic fuel source."

Mark Riley, Clean Energy's Eastern U.S. General Manager, added, "We welcome the opportunity to provide this service to Choice Environmental, which in turn will benefit the State of Florida by beginning to use cleaner, cheaper, domestically abundant natural gas fuel for waste and recycling hauling. Refuse companies throughout the country are adopting natural gas fuel for both environmental and economic reasons, and we congratulate Choice for leading the way in Florida."

The natural gas used to produce CNG fuel onsite at the station is supplied by TECO Peoples Gas, Florida's largest natural gas distribution company.