[Congressional Record Volume 144, Number 141 (Friday, October 9, 1998)]
[Senate]
[Pages S12245-S12246]
From the Congressional Record Online through the Government Publishing Office [www.gpo.gov]




                     TRIBUTE TO MICELL TECHNOLOGIES

 Mr. FAIRCLOTH. Mr. President, I would like to commend a rising 
company in the Tarheel State and use its positive example to encourage 
my colleagues to recognize and support the role environmental 
technologies are playing in our economy.
  Micell Technologies of Raleigh has made great strides in improving 
carbon dioxide cleaning methods which may soon revolutionize the dry 
cleaning, metal finishing and textile industries. This company's 
environmentally friendly and energy efficient innovation, which is the 
result of research by a prominent professor and students at the 
University of North Carolina at Chapel Hill, has recently earned 
recognition by R&D magazine as one of the top 100 innovations of 1998.
  I would also like to share a column authored by Anna Vondrak that 
appeared recently in the Greensboro News & Record calling for the 
federal government to provide more research and development funding to 
stimulate environmental discoveries as well as tax and other incentives 
for polluting, less energy efficient companies to seek alternative 
manufacturing processes.
  I respectfully request that this statement and accompanying article 
by Ms. Vondrak by printed in the Record.

          [From the Greensboro News & Record, Sept. 27, 1998]

  N.C. Firm Shows the Power of ``Green'' Research; Government Should 
         Encourage More Environmental Research and Development.

                           (By Anna Vondrak)

       Congress is notorious for its tendency to divert money for 
     research and development to well-larded pork projects.
       The federal government is spending $74 billion on R&D this 
     year. But more than half of that goes to defense. A third of 
     the rest goes to medical research, which consumes a rising 
     share of federal research dollars.
       In today's rapidly changing world, however, technological 
     innovation by small firms will become increasingly important 
     in ensuring economic success and environmental protection. 
     Improved technologies can help industries move from dirty, 
     energy-

[[Page S12246]]

     guzzling manufacturing processes to clean, energy-efficient 
     ones.
       An example of seemingly mundane but significant 
     environmental innovation comes from Micell Technologies, a 
     start-up firm based in North Carolina, in the heart of the 
     famed Research Triangle.
       Formed in 1995 by three scientists--Joseph DeSimone, 
     Timothy Romack and James McClain--Micell employs just 26 
     people. This small team is on the verge of solving one of 
     this nations' most pervasive environmental problems.
       Today, most dry cleaners rely on toxic solvents, such as 
     percholoroethylene, or PERC, which can contaminate ground 
     water and may cause cancer in humans after long-term 
     exposure. While liquid carbon dioxide has long been seen as 
     an environmentally positive alternative, it has not fared 
     well in the marketplace because it simply cannot clean 
     garments to acceptable standards by itself.
       Led by DeSimone, a soft-spoken chemistry professor who  co-
     invented the process with his students, scientists at UNC-
     Chapel Hill, developed new detergents that dissolve in 
     liquid CO2.
       Not only is the toxic substance PERC removed from the dry 
     cleaning equation, but Micell's two new cleaning systems, 
     Micare and Miclean, separate and recover the CO2 and 
     detergents they use. Those waste products can then be 
     recycled--an important factor in preventing run-off pollution 
     from reaching sensitive waterways.
       Just as important, Micell's innovation also will play a 
     major role in protecting the health of tens of thousands 
     employees in America's dry cleaning industry--and quite 
     likely millions of their customers as well.
       The firm's accomplishment caught the eye of R&D Magazine, 
     which named it a winner of its annual R&D 100 Awards, long 
     regarded as the ``Oscars of Invention.''
       Thus, a humble dry cleaner joins the fax machines, antilock 
     brakes, and the ubiquitous ATM created by far larger 
     corporations as a leader in cutting-edge technology.
       Micell's experience shows that academic research and small 
     company entrepreneurship may be the fastest--and greenest--
     path to the marketplace.
       Congress should speed the discovery process by establishing 
     new R&D tax credits and low-interest loans to encourage small 
     businesses and universities to expand research activities.
       The House and Senate Appropriations Committees recently 
     pledged to double funding for the National Institutes of 
     Health over five years--for starters--increasing NIH funding 
     by $2 billion this year. Experts in the medical community 
     believe the funding increase will pay huge public health 
     dividends.
       Similarly, significant increases in federal funding that 
     supports research for new environmental technologies also 
     will produce big benefits for Americans--less pollution-
     driven disease, a greener planet and new industries that 
     create jobs and enhance prosperity.
       Continuing technological innovation is the key to America's 
     economic and environmental health as it enters the 21st 
     century. Congress should move quickly to bolster R&D and tax 
     incentives in this key area. The time to act is now, while 
     the U.S. still enjoys global economic dominance.

                          ____________________