Battelle has recently been awarded a five-year, $13 million contract with the U.S. Environmental Protection Agency (EPA) to evaluate the performance of homeland security technologies related to water infrastructure protection.

The EPA has been designated as the sector-specific agency for drinking water and wastewater critical infrastructure protection and is the lead federal agency for the remediation of areas contaminated by terrorist events involving the release of biological organisms, biotoxins, chemical warfare agents, toxic industrial chemicals, toxic industrial materials, and radiological materials.

Under the new contract, Battelle will continue to test, evaluate, and report on the performance of the following types of technologies:

• Decontamination/surface cleaning of wide areas, including buildings, structures, and public spaces ;
• Analytical techniques for continuous measurement of fumigant chemicals;
• Decontamination of drinking water distribution systems and wastewater treatment plants;
• Water quality monitoring and detection;
• Ambient air quality monitoring and detection;
• Air cleaning methodologies for use in buildings and other structures;
• Personal protective equipment.