January 22, 2008

TopCAT Innovation Awards recognize Battelle for “Best Technology Team” and “Green Innovation” Technology

An innovative Battelle technology designed to address the environmental damage caused by acid mine runoff was recognized recently by Columbus area technology leaders.

The Acid Mine Drainage technology is a chemical extraction process used to purify water and addresses the environmental threat of polluted water contained in abandoned mines across the country.  The technology process was recently successfully demonstrated at a mining site in St. Michael, Pennsylvania, earning laudatory comments from the state’s top environmental official.

TechColumbus, the premiere technology organization in Central Ohio, holds the annual TopCAT awards to recognize the most significant technology contributions of the year.  A record-setting attendance of nearly 1,000 people were at the ceremony January 17 representing the largest gathering for innovation awards in Ohio.

Battelle scientists Mike von Fahnestock, Bruce Monzyk, and Nick Conkle led a larger team of researchers who were awarded “Best Technology Team.”  The technology also was recognized as the best “Green Innovation” for its potential to address a large-scale environmental issue.

“This award is a tribute to the true team effort involved in taking this innovative adaptation of liquid extraction from the lab to a successful field demonstration,” von Fahnestock said.  “The technology process has been proven to work and holds great promise as a way to address this very important environmental issue for Appalachian Ohio and for other areas around the world with similar problems.”

Battelle’s investment on the technology is being augmented by industry partner Winner Global and the Pennsylvania Department of Environmental Protection.

For more information contact Media Relations Manager Katy Delaney at (410) 306-8638 or at delaneyk@battelle.org.