Crown Forms Two New Divisions to Focus on Underground Lead Pipe Inspections and Remediations

Crown welcomes Industry Pioneers Chuck Hansen as Chief Advisor Lead Pipe Assessment and David Kinsella as President of Element 82 and PE Pipelines

LOS ANGELES, Aug. 05, 2024 (GLOBE NEWSWIRE) -- Crown Electrokinetics Corp. (NASDAQ: CRKN) ("Crown" or the "Company"), a leading smart glass technology company and an expert in underground construction, announced today the formation of two new divisions - Element 82 and PE Pipelines. Element 82 will focus on lead pipe inspection, and PE Pipelines will focus on lead pipe remediation.  

Lead in drinking water pipes represents an enormous problem for the United States of America. The U.S. Environmental Protection Agency (US EPA) estimates that 9.2 million lead pipes carry drinking water to American water taps. The National Resources Council has estimated numbers as high as 12.8 million pipes. These numbers could be significantly higher, given the poor mapping and enormous complexity of the country’s water systems. Despite the range, experts agree that millions of American households remain at risk of lead exposure through their drinking water.

Element 82 has teamed with Chuck Hansen and his California-based company, Electro Scan Inc., to offer services using the company’s revolutionary Swordfish hand-held tool. Swordfish automatically detects various pipe materials automatically using electrical resistance, a low-voltage machine-intelligent method. Before Swordfish, no technology other than digging or excavation was commercially available to accurately and reliably identify lead pipe. Recognized by the US EPA, Swordfish quickly and accurately identifies multiple buried pipe materials, including lead, without expensive, time-consuming, and destructive digging. The Swordfish technology and Chuck Hansen’s expertise provide Crown a significant competitive advantage.

Chuck Hansen observed, “The partnership with Element 82 creates an amazing platform to expand Swordfish rapidly across the country. Lead pipe identification is the critical step before remediation and, ultimately, reducing lead exposure in drinking water in our cities and towns.”

Element 82 has already commenced new projects in New York, Virginia, and Florida. Over the course of the next month, Element 82 will be making announcements regarding purchase orders and revenue targets for the remainder of this calendar year.

To establish these divisions, Crown is hiring a team of world-class experts, innovators, and operators. Chuck Hansen, a 40-year water pipe industry expert, joins as Chief Advisor Lead Pipe Assessment. An 18-year veteran, David Kinsella will serve as President of Element 82 and PE Pipelines. To assist Mr. Hansen and Mr. Kinsella, Mike App and Matt Campos are joining in project management and engineering roles for Element 82’s projects. Erich Spangenberg has been hired as Chief Advisor, Risk Mitigation.