Pall Corporation (NYSE:PLL) has received an Outstanding Ground Water Project Award from the National Ground Water Association for outstanding science, engineering, and innovation in the area of remediating groundwater.
Pall, a leader in filtration, separation and purification, designed, built and operates one of the world’s largest oxidation treatment systems for the destruction of 1,4-dioxane in groundwater. The system can pump and filter over two million gallons of water a day.
The award will be presented at the 2010 NGWA Ground Water Expo and Annual Meeting in Las Vegas, Nevada, on December 8, 2010. The award-winning project started in 1997 within months of Pall’s acquisition of Gelman Sciences Inc. (GSI) and continues today.
GSI used 1,4-dioxane from approximately 1966 to 1986 at its Ann Arbor, Michigan, manufacturing facility. 1,4-dioxane, a common industrial chemical, is frequently used as a stabilizer and solvent. It is also found in personal care products such as shampoo, toothpaste and moisturizers. The wastewater disposal practices used by GSI at the time had the necessary regulatory approvals.
1,4-dioxane is difficult to treat because it is highly mobile and miscible in water. In the book Environmental Investigation and Remediation: 1,4-dioxane and Other Solvent Stabilizers, Thomas Mohr writes, “The mobility, persistence, and treatment challenges combine to make 1,4-dioxane a particularly vexing contaminant. It is more mobile than any other contaminant you are likely to find at solvent release sites…”
"Pall Corporation is honored by the NGWA's recognition of our efforts. We are deeply committed to creating a more sustainable future and to providing customers with efficient and cost-effective ways of achieving their environmental protection and process improvement goals. We are especially pleased that the knowledge gained from this project has already become, and will continue to be, a resource for others managing the same contaminant," said Saied Tousi, Pall Corp. senior vice president. Pall was named one of the “greenest companies” in America by Newsweek magazine.
NGWA president Jack Henrich said, “Pall’s remediation project is praiseworthy for its effectiveness in attacking large scale contamination of 1,4-dioxane. The ‘persistence’ of 1,4-dioxane in this case is exceeded only by the ingenuity of the award-winning technology to remediate groundwater and Pall’s demonstrated commitment to this complex issue.”
NGWA, a nonprofit organization comprised of more than 13,000 U.S. and international groundwater professionals, is dedicated to advancing groundwater knowledge. NGWA’s vision is to be the leading groundwater association that advocates the responsible development, management, and use of water.
Source: www.pall.com