Path: utzoo!utgpu!news-server.csri.toronto.edu!cs.utexas.edu!usc!zaphod.mps.ohio-state.edu!uwm.edu!linac!att!ucbvax!midd.cc.middlebury.edu!HOWIE From: HOWIE@midd.cc.middlebury.edu ("Howie McCausland 388-3711x5754", 802) Newsgroups: misc.security Subject: Re: halon Message-ID: <9103021926.AA19474@ucbarpa.Berkeley.EDU> Date: 1 Mar 91 14:18:00 GMT Sender: usenet@ucbvax.BERKELEY.EDU Organization: The Internet Lines: 16 Approved: security@rutgers.edu My understanding is that halons are several orders of magnitude more effective in catalyzing the destruction of stratospheric ozone than the common chloro- fluorocarbons used in refrigeration, aerosol propellant, etc. I do not know of federal legislation, but believe a number of pending state statutes require phasing them out. I was amused on a visit a couple of years ago to the National Center for Atmospheric Research supercomputer center to see WATER sprinkler heads in the ceiling of their CRAY room. On expressing my surprise, I was treated to a lecture on ozone depletion by their system manager, who said the folks at NCAR viewed it as a "religious" issue. Howie McCausland Assistant Director, Academic Computing Middlebury College howie@midd.cc.middlebury.edu