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EPA NEW ENGLAND PRESENTS 1999 ENVIRONMENTAL TECHNOLOGY INNOVATOR AWARDS

Release Date: 05/05/1999
Contact Information: Amy Miller, EPA Press Office (617-918-1042)

BOSTON - The U.S. Environmental Protection Agency presented awards today to eight New England companies, including six in Massachusetts, that have been particularly innovative in addressing environmental problems. The companies were recognized by EPA's New England Office at the Environmental Expo trade show at the World Trade Center.

In addition to being creative, the winning technologies were selected for coming up with proven methods to address important environmental problem, such as stormwater discharge, failing septic systems and hazardous waste cleanup.

"Environmental innovators like these are making substantial contributions to New England's ecology and its economy," said John P. DeVillars, EPA's New England Administrator. "They are the region's pre-eminent environmental problem-solvers, breaking through old barriers with smart science and new ideas."

The awards, which are being given out for the second year, recognize technologies with a history of success, as well as new and emerging technologies that are breaking new ground in environmental protection, clean-up or analysis.

The awards program was established by EPA New England's Center for Environmental Industry and Technology, which is designed to provide business and technical assistance to the environmental industry in New England.

Applications were evaluated by the regional Science Council, a panel of top EPA scientists.

The 1999 Environmental Technology Innovator Award winners, chosen from among 35 applicants, are as followers:

• Storm Treat Systems Inc. Sandwich, Mass.: This company developed a stormwater treatment technology designed to capture and treat stormwater using a sedimentation chamber and constructed wetland.
• Environmental Research Corp., East Freetown, Mass.: This company developed the "biofence," biodegradable siltation fencing for erosion control. This technology eliminates the need to remove plastic residue from fencing after a project is done.
• Kady International, Scarborough, Maine: This company's "bio-lysis system" reduces the volume and weight of disposable sludge produced by wastewater treatment plants. The reductions in biosolids result in less sludge being handled in treatment systems.
• Strategic Diagnostics Inc., Natick, Mass.: Strategic Diagnostics developed immunoassay field screening kits to do on-site soil and water sample tests for a variety of regulated contaminants. These screening kits reduce the delays and expense of using off-site laboratory kits.
• Innovatech, Boston, Mass.: ETHEC, developed by Innovatech, is an electro-thermochemical process to help clean up and recycle contaminated wastes. This technology extracts water from waste streams and disinfects, purifies and condenses it for safe disposal or recycling. The process also cleans and prepares the residue material for safe disposal or beneficial use.
• Ecosystem Consulting Service Inc., Coventry, Conn.: This company developed a "layer aeration process" that improves water quality and habitat suitability by using naturally occurring oxygen sources in the upper water levels to help meet respiratory oxygen demand deeper in eutrophic lakes, where too much growth has depleted the oxygen supply. This system saves money and energy by decreasing dependence on large compressor systems.
• Micromag Corp., Framingham, Mass.: The "CoMag Process" developed by this company is a magneto-chemical process that removes dissolved, particulate and microbiological contaminants from municipal and industrial wastewater. This technology has been used successfully at the Marlborough Easterly Waste Water Treatment Plant.
• Sitelab Corp., Wellesley, Mass.: This company developed on-site analytical test kits that measure a variety of petroleum hydrocarbons in potentially contaminated soils for a fraction of the cost of traditional laboratory tests.