You likely won’t be able to walk the conference floor without bumping into an expert from Battelle or one of the national labs it manages at the Environmental Protection Agency’s leading decontamination conference this week.
Chemical, Biological and Radiological experts from Battelle, the world’s largest independent research and development organization, will present on next generation technologies and solutions. Battelle-associated experts will deliver eight presentations during the event.
In June, Battelle will additionally support EPA by hosting a demonstration of decontamination technologies and products at its facilities in Columbus, Ohio.
The 2015 EPA International Decontamination Research and Development Conference, being held May 5-7, 2015 in Durham, North Carolina, is hosted by U.S. EPA’s Office of Research and Development’s National Homeland Security Research Center (NHSRC).
Battelle speakers at the conference include:
- Ryan James, senior research scientist: Full-Scale Demonstrations of a ‘Toolbox of Options’ for Radiological Incident Mitigation Technology; Radiological Contaminant Persistence and Decontamination in Drinking Water Pipes
- Morgan Wendling, supervisor of lab operations, Battelle Biomedical Research Center: Methyl Bromide Decontamination of Indoor and Outdoor Materials Contaminated with Bacillus anthracis Spores
- George Wrenn, senior research scientist, Battelle Hazardous Materials Research Center: Integrated Decontamination Test and Evaluation System (IDTES) for Evaluation of Hazard Mitigation Technologies
- Harry Stone, senior research scientist: Surface Decontamination of Blister Agents Lewisite, Sulfur Mustard and Agent Yellow
Battelle manages Pacific Northwest National Laboratory and Idaho National Laboratory, with employees from these DOE laboratories also presenting at the conference.
Battelle also supported the research for the following presentations:
- Paul Lemieux, U.S. Environmental Protection Agency: Early-Phase Waste Staging for Wide-Area Radiological Incidents
- Rebecca Phillips, ORISE Research Participant with U.S. EPA: Advanced Oxidative Process Treatment of Heavily Contaminated Water for Drain Disposal and POTW Acceptance
- Jeff Szabo, U.S. Environmental Protection Agency: Adherence of Contaminants to Drinking Water Storage Tank Sediments
The conference is designed to facilitate presentation, discussion, and further collaboration on research and development focused on an all-hazards approach to cleaning up contamination, especially chemical, biological, and radiological threat agents.
Battelle has decades of experience dealing with CBRNE threats and is involved in multiple projects around the world including destruction of the U.S. chemical weapon stockpile and assisting with decontamination at Chernobyl and Fukushima.
The R&D non-profit also developed the next-gen Resource Effective BioIdentification System (REBS), which is a rugged, lightweight, battery-powered system that identifies biological and chemical materials quickly, at a cost of less than $1 per day per unit, and proven utility for decontamination applications.
Battelle is an official media sponsor of Global Biodefense.