FORD ISLAND HI – Customized bio-security equipment, designed and manufactured by a Lower Pottsgrove (PA) Township company, is being installed as part of a 30-acre campus of new and renovated scientific facilities now being built in Hawaii for the nation’s official weather forecasters, the National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration (NOAA).

An architect's rendering of NOAA's new Pacific Regional Center headquarters.

The well-known federal agency and the U.S. Navy broke ground last month (Dec. 7, 2010) for construction of the final phase of NOAA’s Pacific Regional Center. The vast complex on historic Ford Island at Pearl Harbor will support coastal and marine resources, and predict weather events, tsunamis, and climate changes in the Pacific. Construction is expected to be finished by October 2012.

Protecting some of the water supplies that feed the campus will be special ultraviolet (UV) sterilizers that are the products of Emperor Aquatics Inc., 2229 Sanatoga Station Rd., Pottstown PA.

The annual December observance of Japan’s surprise World War II bombing of Pearl Harbor, a date that President Franklin D. Roosevelt proclaimed “will live in infamy,” was specifically chosen to launch construction of a three-building, $131 million laboratory and office plaza that will serve as the heart of NOAA‘s Hawaii headquarters, the Naval Facilities Engineering Command reported.

Four UV sterilizers being supplied by Emperor for the center's bio-security program.

Emperor is a 21-year-old company located in the south-central portion of the township between U.S. Route 422 and the Schuylkill River. It manufactures high-quality water filtration and UV germicidal equipment to disinfect water-borne microorganisms that cause diseases in fish and other aquatic life. Back in May (2010) Emperor announced on its website that it was shipping “several custom” units of its SafeGUARD-brand Shell and Tube UV sterilizers for the NOAA “facilities’ bio-security program.”

The plaza now being built consists of two World War II-era aircraft hangars joined by a third, new building between them. Together they will provide 310,000 square feet of core working space destined to employ more than 700 people while saving NOAA money by improving efficiency and reducing overhead costs.

Several other parts of the campus, such as piers, a storage facility and a ship operations facility, are already finished. The Marine Science and Storage Facility, which contains wet laboratories and marine animal tanks where Emperor Aquatics’ handiwork is expected to be put to round-the-clock use, should be completed later this year.

Emperor’s expertise involves working with clients like NOAA to determine which microorganisms present infection risks. It calculates how long the germs must be exposed to UV radiation to eliminate their threats, and then builds sterilizers that meet those specific needs. Some of the company’s products, consequently, are one-of-a-kind designs.

The benefit of UV treatment, the company explains, is that it has no residual effects downstream and is harmless to animals swimming in the pools where treated water is delivered. It compares favorably to chemicals such as chlorine or bromine, which can irritate the skin and eye tissue of mammals, reptiles, and birds; or ozone gas, which if not measured and properly controlled can severely damage tissue and cause death in fish and invertebrates.

NOAA is only one of Emperor’s high-profile clients. Also on its list are some of the nation’s most visited zoos and aquariums, many research universities, fish hatcheries across several states, and major retailers.

The Ford Island campus will house NOAA’s diverse set of programs, including the National Environmental Satellite and Data Information Services, National Ocean Service, National Weather Service, National Marine Fisheries Service, Oceanic and Atmospheric Research Center, Marine and Aviation Operations, the International Tsunami Information Center, and the Pacific Tsunami Warning Center.

The location’s ability to provide deep water berthing for vessels, sea water for scientific research, and plenty of space makes it ideal for NOAA’s uses, Dr. Larry Robinson, the agency’s Assistant Secretary of Commerce for Conservation and Management, said.

The plaza is being built by a Chicago contractor and paid for using federal stimulus funding. The massive renovation and construction project is designed with many environmentally sustainable features that should allow it to qualify for gold-level certification as a “green” building.

Photos from NOAA and Emperor Aquatics Inc.