U.S. EPA AND BATTELLE HOST HOMELAND SECURITY TECHNOLOGY FIELD DAY

Battelle and the U.S. Environmental Protection Agency (EPA) showcased 10 technologies that can monitor for, detect and decontaminate biological and chemical contaminants in drinking water, buildings and other structures.

The work is part of the EPA's Environmental Technology Verification (ETV) Program, which generates objective, third-party performance data on commercially available environmental technologies.

On hand for the demonstration were U.S. Senator George V. Voinovich (R-OH), U.S. Rep. Pat Tiberi (R-OH), and representatives for other Ohio public officials. Attending the event were emergency responders, researchers, and developers and users of technologies for homeland security.

"Since 9-11, our nation has proactively pooled resources, information, and technology to better defend the homeland. Public-private partnerships like this are clearly helping develop and implement innovations which play a key role in helping safeguard America. In Congress, I'll continue to advocate the importance of partnerships like this," Voinovich said.

"EPA is working aggressively with industry to develop, test, verify, and then distribute technologies that will help make our nation's drinking water and buildings safer. We believe that actions taken to address vulnerabilities to water and buildings will greatly reduce the threat of terrorist attacks," said Paul Gilman, EPA's assistant administrator for research and development.

"Protecting people and critical assets in the U.S. is vitally important today," said Charles Wilhelm, vice president and director of Battelle's Office of Homeland Security. "We're glad we can put our objective technology expertise to good use in helping people wade through the myriad of new technologies on the market."

Battelle is currently verifying technologies for the EPA with application in the following three areas:

  • Monitoring and protecting the quality of the nation's drinking water.
  • Monitoring and detecting chemical and biological agents in buildings and public places.
  • Decontaminating indoor surfaces in buildings and other structures contaminated with chemical and biological agents.

Battelle is a global leader in science and technology. Headquartered in Columbus, Ohio, it develops and commercializes technology and manages laboratories for government and commercial customers. Battelle, with the national labs that it manages or co-manages, oversees 16,000 staff members and conducts $2.7 billion in annual research and development. Battelle innovations include the development of the office copier machine (Xerox), pioneering work on compact disc technology, and medical technology advancements. For more information, contact Battelle Media Relations Manager Katy Delaney at (614) 424-5544 or at delaneyk@battelle.org.

EPA relies on quality science as the basis for sound policy and decision making. EPA's laboratories, research centers and grantees are building the scientific foundation needed to support the Agency's mission to safeguard human health and the environment. For more information, contact Pati Schultz at (513) 569-7966 or at schultz.patricia@epa.gov.