Perma-Fix Begins Treatment of Radioactive, High Mercury Waste
OAK RIDGE, Tenn., June 4 /PRNewswire-FirstCall/ -- Perma-Fix Environmental Services, Inc. (Nasdaq: PESI; Boston) (Germany: PES.BE) has announced today that it and a technology partner, ADA Technologies, Inc. ("ADA"), have successfully completed development of a new treatment process and have begun to treat radioactively contaminated waste containing high levels of mercury in excess of 260 ppm. Perma-Fix has a backlog of approximately $3.6 million of this waste that it can now begin to treat.
Since the early 1950s, mercury has been widely used throughout the Department of Energy ("DOE"), for activities associated with the production of weapons and various research and development projects. The legacy is more than 50,000 cubic meters of low-level radioactive and transuranic waste co- contaminated with mercury. Radioactively contaminated mercury waste requires complex treatment processes that meet the requirements of federal regulations and disposal site criteria. Perma-Fix and ADA have partnered to address the different types of legacy mercury waste so that the government and commercial sectors will have a safe and proven means to dispose of such waste. This new amalgamation/stabilization process is the second successful collaboration between Perma-Fix and ADA to address difficult to treat waste.
Perma-Fix and ADA have now installed two process systems for treatment of mercury waste at Perma-Fix's newest mixed waste treatment facility located on the DOE K-25 weapons plant in Oak Ridge, Tennessee. This facility was designed and constructed specifically to treat the large volumes of waste generated by the DOE.
The first system has operated successfully for over a year treating elemental mercury waste through a process known as amalgamation, which is the acceptable treatment method for elemental mercury waste. ADA has developed and patented an amalgamation process, using proprietary reagents, which meet the Environmental Protection Agency's regulatory requirements. The second system utilizes the fundamental chemistry of amalgamation for a specific type of radioactively contaminated mercury waste, termed high mercury waste, and adds a stabilization step to meet the Land Disposal Restriction Requirements for Alternative Treatment Standards for soil-like material. Perma-Fix pays ADA a royalty for utilization of the mercury treatment process.
Dr. Louis F. Centofanti, Perma-Fix chairman and chief executive officer, said: "We are excited to offer additional treatment technologies to address unique mercury waste in support of DOE's effort to clean-up legacy waste generated at sites throughout the United States. This process will help to ensure that the public's health and safety is protected, and that these sites can be cleaned for future use."
Perma-Fix Environmental Services, Inc. is a national environmental services company, providing unique mixed waste and industrial waste management services. The Company has increased its focus on the nuclear services segment, which provides radioactive and mixed waste treatment services to hospitals, research laboratories and institutions, numerous federal agencies including the Departments of Energy and Defense and nuclear utilities. The industrial services segment provides hazardous and non-hazardous waste treatment services for a diverse group of customers including Fortune 500 companies, numerous federal, state and local agencies and thousands of smaller clients. The Company operates nine major waste treatment facilities across the country.
ADA focuses on research, development and commercialization of environmental clean-up technologies. ADA President, Cliff Brown, said: "The teaming arrangement between Perma-Fix and ADA provides a platform for implementation of important new mercury treatment technologies and greatly strengthens our ability to move technology into the marketplace, thus implementing ADA's strategic plan." ADA is well into its second decade leveraging government-funded R&D into commercial products and processes. The company specializes in mercury control technology and instrumentation for a variety of applications. Visit ADA's website to learn more about the company, www.adatech.com .
This press release contains "forward-looking statements" which are based largely on the Company's expectations and are subject to various business risks and uncertainties, certain of which are beyond the Company's control. Forward-looking statements include, but are not limited to, the information concerning the successful process for the treatment of mercury waste, such process being a safe and proven means of treatment of mercury waste and such process helping to ensure that the public's health and safety is protected and that the resources from the DOE sites can be cleaned for future use. These forward-looking statements are intended to qualify for the safe harbors from liability established by the Private Securities Litigation Reform Act of 1995. While the Company believes the expectations reflected in this news release are reasonable, it can give no assurance such expectations will prove to be correct. There are a variety of factors which could cause future outcomes to differ materially from those described in this release, including without limitation, future economic conditions, industry conditions, competitive pressures, the ability of the Company to apply its mercury treatment technologies, or the DOE's failure to abide by or comply with the contracts or to deliver mercury waste as anticipated. The Company makes no commitment to disclose any revisions to forward-looking statements, or any facts, events or circumstances after the date hereof that bear upon forward-looking statements.
Please visit us on the World Wide Web at http://www.perma-fix.com .
SOURCE Perma-Fix Environmental Services, Inc.
Released June 4, 2003