News and Events
Smart Sponge® Featured on Good Morning America
May 27, 2008
Good Morning America features Smart Sponge® in a report on efforts to tackle beach pollution.
Click here to watch the GMA video.
Smart Sponge® Featured on Fox Business News
May 27, 2008
Fox Business News discusses Smart Sponge® and its ability to capture harmful pollutants before they can contaminate surface waters.
Click here to watch the FBN video.
Super Sponge Resolves Slippery Situation
March 13, 2008
KEY WEST, FL -- It took more than an ordinary kitchen sponge or high-quality chamois to clean up 40 gallons of grease that a restaurant accidentally spilled in the 500 block of Duval Street last week.
The owners of Willie T's cooperated with city officials in cleaning up the spill, and immediately paid about $5,500 in cleaning fees that included the replacement of new sponges that have been installed in many of the city's stormwater drains.
"Forty gallons of grease had splattered all over the sidewalk and into the gutter," said Annalise Mannix, the city's environmental programs manager. "Luckily we had installed inserts in September into the stormwater drain, and the grease was caught in the sponge system."
The new inserts, known by the product name Smart Sponge and made by Arizona-based AbTech Industries, collect impurities from water and save them as a solid material that can be collected and discarded properly.
Read more here, by Mandy Bolen in the The Key West Citizen (© 2008, Cooke Communications Publications). Or visit www.keysnews.com.
Scottsdale Firm Gets Major Boost From Federally Funded Project
January 25, 2008
AbTech Industries, the Scottsdale-based developer of a system that removes heavy pollutants from storm water, may have gotten a shot in the arm to boost it to the next level.
Richard Moccia, mayor of Norwalk, Conn., applauded AbTech's Smart Sponge after the filtration system captured the equivalent of 1,200 gallons of oil and 19 tons of trash in 275 storm drains.
"We've been searching for more than a decade for a cost-effective method of storm water treatment to protect Norwalk Harbor and Long Island Sound, and we've found it with this technology," Moccia said. "The results speak for themselves."
Read more here, by Angela Gonzales in the Phoenix Business Journal (© 2008, American City Business Journals Inc.).
Albany Airport Protects Local Waterways
December 2007
In a concentrated effort to mitigate the effects of increased storm water runoff resulting from a major upgrade to its bulk fuel facility, Albany Intl. Airport recently installed a high-capacity storm water pretreatment system. Completed in the summer of 2007, the installation exceeds State Pollutant Discharge Elimination System (SPDES) requirements for storm water treatment. The new addition features Smart Sponge technology, innovative passive absorption filtration media developed by AbTech Industries.
Read more here, from "Airport Support," Judy I Shane in Storm Water Solutions, Vol 4, No. 6 (© 2007, Scranton Gillette Communications).
Stormwater Filter Project Results Announced
October 24, 2007
SCOTTSDALE, AZ – AbTech Industries, maker of the Smart Sponge®, a patented technology that effectively removes pollutants from stormwater, today announced the final results from the Filter Project, a collaborative effort with the Long Island Soundkeeper and the public works office to improve the City of Norwalk's stormwater management program.
During the two year project a total of 37,976 pounds of trash and debris were removed from the AbTech filters after three rounds of filter maintenance and cleanings, which ultimately prevented the trash from polluting the Long Island Sound...
Read more here.
AbTech Industries Wins Green Business Award
September 10, 2007
AbTech Industries, makers of the Smart Sponge, a patented technology that effectively removes pollutants from stormwater, today announced that it has been chosen by AlwaysOn as one of the GoingGreen 100 Top Private Companies for 2007. The first-annual elite GoingGreen 100 list was compiled by the AlwaysOn editorial panel. In order to be eligible for the GoingGreen 100 list, companies had to be peer-nominated, with AlwaysOn receiving more than 500 nominations from venture investors, investment bankers and other industry experts...
Read more here.
Westchester County Airport Cleans its Stormwater
August 20, 2007
WESTCHESTER COUNTY, NY – The Westchester County Airport is located within one of New York City's watersheds that supplies its drinking water. The airport developed an ISO certified Airport Environmental Management System (AEMS). A significant part of the AEMS is the plan to protect waterways surrounding the airport from polluted runoff caused by chemicals such as fuel, oil, grease, and de-icing fluid. To minimize these potential environmental impacts, the county installed AbTech Industries’ catch basin inserts in the critical storm drains.
Read more here.
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