Pentagon's air protected by system by SD Company

By Ed Joyce / Reporter, KPBS Public Broadcasting

Published April 3, 2006 at 9:00 PM PDT

This story was published more than 18 years ago.

The Pentagon's air is now being protected by a system developed by a San Diego company. If successful, Novatron Incorporated's new technology may be used in other facilities worldwide.KPBS Reporter Ed

The Pentagon's air is now being protected by a system developed by a San Diego company. If successful, Novatron Incorporated's new technology may be used in other facilities worldwide.KPBS Reporter Ed Joyce has more.

The company's BioProtector air sterilization system was installed in the Pentagon's heating, ventilation and air conditioning system in December. Novatron President Wayne Clark says the system sterilizes the air supply, rapidly killing biological organisms, such as bacteria, viruses and mold.

We're very optimistic and hopeful that there will be a lot of requirements for this in government buildings but also for commercial applications in health care facilities and just ordinary buildings.

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Clark says potential applications for the technology include protection of military and government facilities against bio-terrorism attack. The system is being evaluated as part of the Pentagon Shield Two Exercise test program. Clark says if the test is successful, additional systems could be installed. Ed Joyce, KPBS News.

Ed Joyce

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Ed Joyce was the environment reporter and afternoon news anchor for KPBS-FM. Before joining KPBS, he worked as an editor/columnist with Copley News Service in San Diego. Ed has an extensive background in newspaper, radio, web and TV journalism. After graduating with a B.A. in Communications from the University of Washington in Seattle, Ed began a career in broadcast journalism. His work has included stints in public broadcasting, commercial broadcasting and education -- working as an affiliate professor of communication and reporter at the University of Idaho and Washington State University in Pullman, Wash. During the past 20 years he has worked in radio, TV and print as a news reporter, anchor, writer, editor and producer. Along the way he has won numerous awards for general news reporting, newswriting, feature and issue reporting and breaking news reporting from The Associated Press, The Society of Professional Journalists, San Diego Press Club and other organizations. During the mid-1990s, while working for Oregon Public Broadcasting, he was a frequent contributor to National Public Radio, including a feature report on the memorial service for 14 U.S. Forest Service "hotshots" who died fighting a wildfire in Colorado (the crew was based in a central Oregon town). He’s also filed reports with Marketplace, KQED’s California Report and Climate Watch and with national and regional networks throughout the United States. At KPBS, Ed continues his contributions to National Public Radio and other national and regional news organizations. He has won awards from the Society of Professional Journalists and San Diego Press Club for his environmental reporting at KPBS-FM-TV and for producing and anchoring radio newscasts. In 2007 he was selected a National Press Foundation fellow for Understanding Violent Weather II program. The seminars were held at the National Weather Center in Norman, Okla. In 2008 he spoke at a UC San Diego conference on U.S. National Security as part of the school’s Institute on Global Conflict and Cooperation. Ed led a discussion with the 18 foreign government officials and academics about the political debate over climate change. In 2010, Ed was elected to a three-year term on the board of the San Diego Press Club.

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