India's Ministry of Environment and Forests (MOEF) recently conducted a meeting to evaluate proposals for cleaning up sewage that is pouring into the Ganga River at Varanasi, Uttar Pradesh. Dr. F. Bailey Green, Vice President of Oswald Green Inc. of Berkley, California, and The Sankat Mochan Foundation (SMF) made a technical presentation on how Oswald Green's advanced integrated water ponding system (AIWPS), used for treating high organic content municipal wastewater, would work in the case of Varanasi. US-AEP supported Dr. Green through a cost-sharing grant administered by the National Association of State Development Agencies (NASDA).

Varanasi, an important religious and cultural center located on the banks of the Ganga River, has been grappling with the public health and environmental problems of untreated wastewater polluting the river as it flows through the city. A leading local NGO, SMF strongly objected to the discharge of untreated and partially treated wastewater along the Ganga River, which is used for religious bathing by at least 60,000 devotees each day.

The AIWPS technology developed by Oswald Green uses low-cost technology with minimal operation and maintenance costs. The system treats and cleans high organic content municipal wastewater and other effluents. It is especially well suited for areas where the availability of land is limited, and where conventional treatment systems have not been effective.

In the case of Varanasi, the technology will incorporate the use of river interceptors to carry municipal sewage downstream into a series of specially designed ponds to remove pathogens and treat the organic pollution potential of the wastewater. Treated effluent can be discharged safely back into the river or used for agricultural irrigation. SMF supports the

AIWPS technology and is working with Oswald Green, LLC to implement the project. Oswald Green is also working with the Gujarat government to apply this technology to treat municipal wastewater in Surendra Nagar, Gujarat. Once they are operating successfully, these projects will provide a model for urban river clean up projects across India.

US-AEP was a featured participant at the Council of State Government's (CSG) Eastern Regional Conference on August 27th in Bartlett, New Hampshire. Forty to fifty people attended a special two-hour seminar entitled 'Why Trade Matters,' including 15 northeastern state legislators and three legislators from Canada.

A session moderated by state Senator Carl Johnson of New Hampshire featured Kay Wilkie, Chair of the Eastern Trade Commission (ETC), Dawn Wivell, ETC vice chair, Peter Murray of the Bowles Corporation, and Alex Izadpanah of US-AEP. Panelists discussed the role of the states in supporting and promoting international trade. The session featured the successful trade mission to Thailand, coordinated by US-AEP, CSG, and State International Development Organizations (SIDO), and included a brief overview of the technology cooperation activities, capabilities, and successes of US-AEP. Mr. Murray, in particular, cited ETC and US-AEP for providing his company, and other small- to medium-sized enterprises (SME), the opportunity to meet potential clients and access new markets.

At the conclusion of the seminar, Daniel Sprague, Executive Director of CSG, expressed his appreciation for US-AEP's ongoing support for state trade activities and the efforts of SMEs to transfer technology to Asia, saying "I want to thank you for the great work that you are doing."

Global Plasma Systems Corporation (GPS), a U.S. developer and licensor of alternative hazardous waste disposal technologies, has formed a joint venture in Malaysia called Plasma Harta Sdn. Bhd. The new company has signed a turnkey contract with Kualiti Alam for design, engineering, construction, and operation of a hazardous waste treatment plant with a treatment capacity of 50 thousand tons per year. Thanks to the persistence of GPS in pursuing this opportunity and US- AEP's facilitation of entry into this difficult market, Malaysia will soon become the second country in Asia to treat hazardous waste with plasma technology.

Kualiti Alam is the first integrated hazardous waste management company in Malaysia. In 1995, as part of Malaysia's extensive environmental infrastructure privatization program, Kualiti Alam was awarded a 15- year concession by the Government of Malaysia to collect, treat and dispose of hazardous waste on a fully commercial basis.

More than 20 thousand tons of organic and inorganic hazardous waste has been stockpiled due to the lack of a proper treatment facility. Kualiti Alam recognized the need to use plasma technology to treat waste that the incinerator plant could not handle.

The plant will use GPS's patented Plasma Pyrolysis and Vitrification (PPV) technology. This innovative technology is comparable to gasification in which toxic waste is decomposed to the molecular level by exposing it to extremely high temperatures in an oxygen-deprived atmosphere. In addition to treating a wide range of hazardous waste that can not be treated with incineration, this technology does not generate the hazardous byproducts of incineration, including dioxins, furans and toxic ash. In fact, the byproducts from PPV can be used to make construction materials.

GPS, a small Washington, DC-based company, has been working closely with US-AEP since 1997, when it received funding from the US Trade and Development Agency to perform a feasibility study demonstrating the viability of the GPS system to Kualiti Alam. Throughout the long process of completing the feasibility study and negotiating a contract, US-AEP assisted GPS with counseling and meetings with Kualiti Alam, other Malaysian companies, and public officials.

Upon successful demonstration of the technical and financial feasibility of GPS technology, a $50 million contract was signed. More than half of that contract represents U.S. exports of GPS's patented PPV hardware, air pollution control systems, and design and engineering services.

The Fall 2001 Schedule for US-AEP's Washington Policy Forum has been pubished. The following are upcoming sessions:

September 26-"Why is Electricity Deregulation So Hard? Lessons from the California Crisis" Dr. Timothy Brennan, Professor of Policy Sciences & Economics at the University of Maryland, and Senior Fellow at Resources for the Future will discuss the role of electricity as a commodity and identifies possible causes for the California crisis of 2000-01

October 10-"Export-Import Bank: Environmental Credits" Mr. Craig O'Connor, Environmental Liaison Officer of the U.S. Export-Import Bank, will discuss efforts of Exim Bank to increase the export of environmentally sound goods and technology.

October 10 - 12 - ENVIRO-TECH Philippines 2001
World Trade Center, Metro Manila, Philippines

October 13 - 17 - The Water Environment Federation's WEFTEC 2001 Exposition in Atlanta, Georgia. One of the world's largest assemblies of wastewater and water quality products and services, WEFTEC will showcase the latest developments of more than 800 companies.