Posted on 01/14/2004 2:13:52 PM PST by Van der Waals
Sabre Technical Services will pump chlorine dioxide through vents, then suck it out
Before the end of the year, the AMI building in the Arvida Park of Commerce in Boca Raton should be free of the anthrax spores that have contaminated it since October 2001.
BioONE, a joint venture of Sabre Technical Services and Giuliani Partners, will use chlorine dioxide, a yellow-green gas with an odor similar to bleach, as the cleaning agent.
Officials at a news conference Tuesday explained the process. Chlorine dioxide, they said, will be pumped into the building through air conditioning ducts. A large, red pump outside will create the gas.
The air inside the building will be monitored to make sure the temperature, humidity and chlorine dioxide concentration are proper to kill the anthrax spores. When the fumigation is done, the gas will be sucked out. John Mason, president and CEO of Sabre Technical Services, said chlorine dioxide has been used for some 70 years to disinfect much of the nations food and water supply, and is also used at hundreds of domestic water treatment facilities daily.
Almost every piece of fresh fruit or vegetable you eat is treated by this chemical, said Mason.
He said the company will file a cleanup plan with the Environmental Protection Agency before beginning the work.
According to Mason, the gas can be neutralized into salt water. This system does not produce any hazardous materials.
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