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Technology Stocks : Startech Environmental (STHK) -- Ignore unavailable to you. Want to Upgrade?

To: Jim Oravetz who wrote (48)	4/11/2000 11:05:00 PM
From: Jim Oravetz	Read Replies (1) \| Respond to of 61

WILTON, Conn., April 10 /PRNewswire/ -- Startech Environmental Corp. (OTC Bulletin Board: STHK), a fully reporting company, announced today that it has started a new contract from the U.S. Army's Non-Stockpile Program with UXB International, Inc. to prepare the Startech Plasma Waste Converter (PWC)(TM) system to demonstrate the safe and irreversible destruction of a vast array of chemical weapons, chemical agents and related toxic and hazardous materials of the Non-Stockpile program. In the United States, there are some 229 sites in 18 states and 2 territories where these materials are located. The "cost plus profit" contract is a multi-phased, fast-track project that has as its ultimate objective the production of transportable systems to be deployed for the safe destruction of these materials at each of the 229 sites. The industrial-sized PWC that will be used in early phases of this program is the same Startech system that has been successfully operating at Aberdeen Proving Ground since January 1999 (see News Release, May 12, 1999). Startech and UXB are working together as a team in this Non-Stockpile Contract. UXB is one of the largest internationally recognized explosive ordnance disposal companies in the world. Unexploded ordnance refers to munitions and weapons such as landmines, rockets, bomblets, mortars, propellants, and Chemical Warfare Materiel found on military bases, firing and bombing ranges, and former war zones scattered throughout the world. UXB is a Startech Strategic Alliance Partner (see News Release, September 27, 1999). Joseph S. Klimek, Startech's Executive Vice President and Chief Operating Officer, said, "In our Strategic Alliance, Startech provides the equipment and UXB provides the on-site recovery and processing services." Mr. Klimek also said, "The budget for the Non-Stockpile program has been estimated at 20 to 30 billion dollars. However, it may be helpful to explain the difference between the Non-Stockpile Program and the Stockpile Program so as not to be confused by this Non-Stockpile contract apart from contracts we have previously announced. Here are answers to questions frequently asked." What is the difference between the two programs? The Non-Stockpile and the Stockpile Programs consist of all chemical warfare agents produced by the United States from approximately 1917 through 1968. These devices were developed for use in World War I, and later wars, to deter other countries from using chemical weapons against the U.S. or other Allied Forces. The items included in the Program consist of the munitions, their storage devices and even the buildings where they are kept or were produced. The Stockpile Program includes certain chemical agents that were selected for production and were typically stored in large bulk containers and/or loaded into munitions. This inventory makes up the Nation's Stockpile and is located at 8 Army installations inside the continental United States and one location, Johnston Island, located in the Pacific Ocean. The Non-Stockpile is a much larger program and includes everything else not in the Stockpile Program. Two-hundred and twenty-nine sites at 99 different locations spread throughout 38 states and 2 territories have been identified. In addition to these, there are 4 former production facilities and 8 sites that house chemical agents and chemical agent contaminated equipment that are also included in the Non-Stockpile Program. What types of things are included in the Non-Stockpile Program? The Army separates the huge inventory making up the Non-Stockpile Program into 5 basic categories; 1. Binary Chemical Weapons - these weapons are those that mix two toxic chemicals inside ammunition during its flight to an intended target; 2. Former Production Facilities - buildings and equipment used to manufacture the various chemical agents and the contaminated munitions assembly facilities; 3. Miscellaneous Chemical Warfare Material - large chemical agent storage containers, various chemical agent development samples, equipment used in connection with the employment of chemical weapons and a myriad of contaminated vessels and unfilled munitions; 4. Recovered Chemical Warfare Material - this includes items recovered from firing ranges, chemical weapons already recovered from burial sites, and warfare material of foreign design; and, 5. Buried Chemical Warfare Material - this includes items currently buried on land or underwater. The present condition of these items is unknown. What is the budget for each of the two programs? Current estimates project the budget for the Stockpile Program at about 15 billion dollars. The projected budget for the Non-Stockpile Program is 20 to 30 billion dollars. Will the PWC at Aberdeen need to be modified for this contract? The PWC is suitable as presently configured. We will provide the Army with the option of using various feed systems to allow full flexibility in the selection of feed material and in anticipation of field conditions. What type of material will you process? We will be processing a wide variety of both toxic and non-toxic material. Is there any interest in a mobile system? Mobility is important to the Non-Stockpile Program. Chemical weapons and munitions cannot be removed from the site. The equipment has to be brought to the site. The Army has expressed interest in our ability to adapt the PWC into a mobile system. The PWC system operating at Aberdeen Proving Ground has been built and configured with the mobile configuration very much in mind. Is the United States the only country facing this problem? No. An international treaty was signed by the United States and over 160 other nations that requires the destruction of all chemical weapons within 10 years. We expect U.S. technology to lead the way for all the signatory nations in this very complex and intense activity. We believe the Plasma Waste Converter is the most robust and cost effective solution for this international problem and we hope to play a significant role in meeting the strict requirements imposed by the treaty. Startech is an environmental equipment company whose Plasma Waste Converter safely processes and converts hazardous and non-hazardous wastes comprised of organic and inorganic solids, gases, aqueous and non-aqueous liquids by its proprietary method of molecular dissociation and closed-loop elemental recycling. The PWC converts most hazardous and non hazardous wastes into useful commodity products.