|
CPI International Inc. of Santa Rosa, CA, has
announced that the Environmental Protection Agency (EPA) recently
published their proposed approval for Colitag™ as a test method for public
drinking water under the Total Coliform Rule.
Colitag™ quickly detects small amounts of the potentially
deadly E.coli bacteria in water samples.
Importantly, Colitag™ has the critical ability to detect
E.coli injured but not killed during water treatment that could
present health risks if not re-treated.
In making the announcement, David Hejl,
President/CEO of CPI, disclosed that this is the culminating event
in the company’s effort to provide an added level of safety in
testing public drinking water. Private laboratories and municipal
and state governmental authorities responsible
for water testing can now protect the public by using Colitag™.
Hejl stated that several shipments of Colitag™ that had
been “on hold for EPA approval” have already been made to
customers. “The
product is that good,” stated Hejl.
Hejl disclosed that shortly after the product
was first brought to market, IDEXX Corporation, the dominant player
in the public drinking water testing industry, filed suit against
CPI alleging that Colitag™ infringed three patents held by IDEXX.
After a lengthy legal process, Judge Janet Bond Arterton,
U.S. District Court, District of Connecticut ruled in favor of CPI
on June 4, 2001. Following
that favorable decision, EPA has now published its proposed approval for
Colitag™ as a testing method.
According to Hejl, CPI versus IDEXX was truly a modern day
comparison to David versus Goliath and, as then, when you believe
strongly in something you must “stay the course.”
A full transcript of Colitag’s EPA publishing
in the Federal Register / Vol. 67, No. 45 / Thursday, March 7, 2002
follows: http://www.epa.gov/fedrgstr/EPA-WATER/2002/March/Day-07/w5447.pdf
|
