ICx Technologies Helps Secure Water Quality at the G-20 Summit

Arlington, Va. (Nov. 2, 2009) – ICx Technologies, Inc. (Nasdaq GS: ICXT), a developer of advanced sensor technologies for homeland security, force protection and commercial applications, announced today that in support of the security initiatives surrounding the Group of Twenty (G-20) Summit in Pittsburgh this past month, the company provided its WaterSentinel™ continuous water monitor for the detection of chemical warfare agents.  ICx supplied the chemical agent version of the WaterSentinel to the Pittsburgh Water and Sewer Authority to monitor the water supply for chemical contamination during the G-20 Summit in Pittsburgh, PA, September 24-25.

“The G-20 Summit was designated a National Special Security Event by the US Department of Homeland Security.  As such, overall security against terrorism and violent protests was placed under the supervision of the Secret Service,” remarked Dr. Stanley States, Director of Water Quality and Production for the Pittsburgh Water and Sewer Authority, a recognized national expert on water security who was responsible for ensuring the water safety during the summit.  “State and local government agencies, along with local utilities, were asked to ensure that their areas of responsibility were as secure as possible.  Utilizing online systems like the WaterSentinel device to continuously monitor the municipal water being distributed to the region of the city of particular interest during this event was one of the approaches that the Pittsburgh Water and Sewer Authority chose to meet this requirement.”  

The WaterSentinel monitor uses enzyme polymer hybrids developed by the ICx team in Pittsburgh to detect nerve and blood agents in water.  The enzymatic detection capabilities of the WaterSentinel are highly sensitive to chemical agents yet extremely resistant to potential environmental and chemical interferents.  

“As this technology was developed in Pittsburgh, we were extremely proud that it was selected to support the security efforts surrounding the G-20 Summit,” said Keith LeJeune, General Manager of the ICx Technologies ChemBio Group located in Pittsburgh, PA.  “It is gratifying to see local technologies help secure such a high profile event.”

In addition to use at the G-20 Summit, the WaterSentinel was recently part of the FY 2009 Technology Readiness Evaluation (TRE) to evaluate advanced chemical agent identification technologies for the Joint Chemical, Biological, and Radiological Agent Water Monitor (JCBRAWM) Program.  For more information on the WaterSentinel and other ICx products, please visit www.icxt.com.