Clean tech company BioLargo Inc. (BLGO:OTCQB) announced it has received a purchase order to install its treatment technology to rid water of so-called "forever chemicals" at a water treatment facility in Stockholm, N.J.
The company's Aqueous Electrostatic Concentrator (AEC) is an eco-friendly water treatment system for removing per- and polyfluoroalkyl substances (PFAS) from contaminated water, including drinking water.
"After an extensive review of the available technologies, including input from our engineers and the state of New Jersey, we selected the BioLargo AEC to ensure the drinking water in our community was free of harmful PFAS chemicals," said John W. Clark, Jr. President of Lake Stockholm Systems Inc. "BioLargo's solution will give us the peace of mind and guarantee that we can meet remediation requirements, both today and in the future."
Millions of Americans have the harmful chemicals in their drinking water. BioLargo said testing has shown its technology removes the chemicals to a level of "non-detection," or a level at which science can no longer detect them.
Per- and polyfluoroalkyl substances (PFAS) are long-lasting chemicals that break very slowly over time and persist in people, animals, food, and the environment. DuPont and 3M are facing massive lawsuits over the substances that could rival the tobacco settlement, and more than 200 million Americans have them in their drinking water.
The cost to society of using PFAS across the global economy is as high as US$17.5 trillion a year, according to a recent report compiled by Swedish non-governmental organization ChemSec. The same study found that profits for the world's largest PFAS manufacturers totaled just US$4 billion annually.
Chris Temple of The National Investor celebrated the transaction. "I suspect that now that the ice has been broken here, we'll be hearing of similar such deals for BioLargo in the coming year and beyond," Temple wrote.
The Catalyst: Chemicals Don't Break Down
PFAS are known as "forever chemicals" because they do not break down when released into the environment and can build up in blood and organs, EWG noted.
Found in thousands of products, from food packaging to clothing to toilet paper, they can lead to increased risk of cancer, developmental delays in children, hormonal disruption, high cholesterol, and reduced immune system effectiveness, the EPA said.
More than 15,000 claims have been filed nationwide against DuPont and its spinoffs and 3M, major manufacturers of the substance in the U.S., Time reported. So far, they have paid at least US$11.5 billion in damages, an amount that could grow to even exceed "the more than (US)$200 billion paid by Big Tobacco in the 1990s."
"Not 100% of Americans are walking around smoking tobacco," Erik Olson, senior strategic director for the Natural Resources Defense Council, told Time. "But basically 100% of Americans are walking around with PFAS in their bodies, and none of them asked for that."
BioLargo's AEC technology separates PFAS compounds in an electrostatic field, forcing them to flow across a proprietary membrane system. The company said it removes more than 99% of the PFAS from water at energy costs as low as 30 cents per 1,000 gallons.
Its waste stream is a fraction of that of traditional carbon or ion exchange systems, and the company combines the AEC system with a turnkey collection, membrane exchange, and disposal service. The system is modular, portable, and scalable.
The system is compact, energy-efficient, and creates water with higher purity than other methods, BioLargo said.
Water Contaminated in All States
The Environmental Working Group has an interactive PFAS map of contaminated sites in America. The group said there is contaminated drinking water in all 50 states, the District of Columbia, and two territories.
Twenty-eight water systems had PFAS levels above 70 parts per trillion (ppt), the EPA's non-enforceable guideline.
Five systems had a PFAS level of 100 ppt or higher, including the Yeshiva Farm Settlement in New York, which reported 427.6 ppt.
"For decades, millions of Americans have unknowingly consumed water tainted with PFAS," EWG Senior Vice President of Government Affairs Melanie Benesh said. "The widespread presence of PFAS contamination is a huge problem that has persisted for years. This new testing shows that escaping PFAS is nearly impossible."
Lawsuits Could Be 'Powerful Catalyst'
Singular Research analyst Michael Mathison gave the stock a Buy-Venture rating with a US$0.28 per share target price.
"BioLargo’s patented AEC technology is one of the few commercially available technologies," he wrote.
Technical Analyst Clive Maund of CliveMaund.com wrote that PFAS lawsuits could be a "powerful catalyst" for the company's stock.
"Clearly, if even one of the defendants turns to BioLargo to address clearing up this mess, it should be a Big Deal for the company," he wrote.
Streetwise Ownership Overview*Management, in its most recent earnings call, also reported a number of new customers wanting to engage BioLargo to clean up their PFAS, and that the company is working to finalize contracts.
Ownership and Share Structure
About 14.6% of BioLargo is owned by insiders and management, according to Yahoo Finance. They include Chief Science Officer Kenneth Code with 8.67%, CEO Calvert with 3.41%, and Director Jack Strommen with 1.5%, Reuters reported.
About 0.04% is held by the institution First American Trust, Reuters said.
The rest, about 85%, is retail.
Its market cap is US$48.35 million, with about 289.5 million shares outstanding and about 248 million free-floating. It trades in a 52-week range of US$0.2398 and US$0.15.
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- [BioLargo Inc.] is a billboard sponsor of Streetwise Reports and pays SWR a monthly sponsorship fee between US$4,000 and US$5,000.
- As of the date of this article, officers and/or employees of Streetwise Reports LLC (including members of their household) own securities of [BioLargo Inc.].
- [Steve Sobek ]wrote this article for Streetwise Reports LLC and provides services to Streetwise Reports as an employee.
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