US Patent and Trademark Office Issues Patent to Perma-Fix for Method and Apparatus for Mercury Removal and Decontamination
ATLANTA, GA -- (Marketwired) -- 09/19/16 -- Perma-Fix Environmental Services, Inc. (NASDAQ: PESI) today announced that it has been granted a patent by the US Patent and Trademark Office for its Method and Apparatus for Recovering Subsurface Free Mercury and Decontaminating a Substrate. The patent allowed all claims in the Company's patent application.
The claim of the patent addresses a method and apparatus for removing elemental mercury and/or other liquid contaminants from a geological subsurface substrate or formation by mobilizing and passively collecting the mercury and/or other liquid contaminants through a soil column and collecting it in pipes and sumps.
Dr. Louis F. Centofanti, Chief Executive Officer, commented, "Our new process presents a significant and immediate market opportunity for Perma-Fix, as it is more effective and lower cost than alternative solutions for the extraction and remediation of mercury contaminated sites. The U.S. Department of Energy (DOE) currently estimates that tons of mercury exists within the soil and buildings at its defense plants including the Y-12 facility in Oak Ridge. Over 173 Superfund sites list mercury as a contaminant of concern in the soil. We are very pleased with the patent, as it provides us very broad intellectual property protection."
Elemental mercury is considered a hazardous material that is easily absorbed by inhalation as well as leachable into groundwater. Mercury can cause harmful effects to the central nervous system, kidney toxicity, etc. As a result, mercury has been subject to a variety of environmental regulations.
About Perma-Fix Environmental Services
Perma-Fix Environmental Services, Inc. is a nuclear services company and leading provider of nuclear and mixed waste management services. The Company's nuclear waste services include management and treatment of radioactive and mixed waste for hospitals, research labs and institutions, federal agencies, including DOE, the Department of Defense (DOD), and the commercial nuclear industry. The Company's nuclear services group provides project management, waste management, environmental restoration, decontamination and decommissioning, new build construction, and radiological protection, safety and industrial hygiene capability to our clients. The Company operates four nuclear waste treatment facilities and provides nuclear services at DOE, DOD, and commercial facilities, nationwide.
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 generally are identifiable by use of the words such as "believe", "expects", "intends", "anticipate", "plans to", "estimates", "projects", and similar expressions. Forward-looking statements include, but are not limited to: our new process presents a significant and immediate market opportunity for Perma-Fix as it is more effective and lower cost than alternative solutions for the extraction and remediation of mercury contaminated sites. 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; our ability to apply and market our new technologies; the government or such other party to a contract granted to us fails to abide by or comply with the contract or to deliver waste as anticipated under the contract; that Congress fails to provides continuing funding for the DOD's and DOE's remediation projects; ability to obtain new foreign and domestic remediation contracts; our ability to fund the commercialization of our technology; and the "Risk Factors" discussed in, and the additional factors referred to under "Special Note Regarding Forward-Looking Statements" of our 2015 Form 10-K and Form 10-Qs for quarters ended March 31, 2016 and June 30, 2016. 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.
Contacts:
David K. Waldman
US Investor Relations
Crescendo Communications, LLC
(212) 671-1021
Herbert Strauss
European Investor Relations
herbert@eu-ir.com
+43 316 296 316
Source: Perma-Fix Environmental Services, Inc.
Released September 19, 2016