Bell Receives '09 Environmental Award

Bell Laboratories, Inc, was honored recently with a 2009 Wisconsin Business Friend of the Environment Award from the Wisconsin Environmental Working Group for its demonstrated leadership in environmental stewardship.

One of three Wisconsin winners in the environmental innovation category, Bell was singled out for its participation in the Aleutian Seabird Restoration Project on Rat Island in the Alaskan Aleutian Islands chain. Bell developed a unique brodifacoum bait, capable of being aerially applied, which researchers are using to rid Rat Island of non-native Norway rats that have been ravaging the island's seabird populations. The project is a collaborative effort among the U.S. Fish & Wildlife Service, the Nature Conservancy and the Island Conservation and Ecology Group.

Bell became involved in island restoration projects in 2002 when the company developed a bait to get rid of seabird-preying rats on Anacapa Island, off the coast of California. Since then Bell has worked with island restoration projects in Scotland, Palmyra Atoll in the tropical Pacific and is currently working with researchers on the Galapagos Islands.

"Bell is the only U.S. rodenticide manufacturer involved in producing bait that has been successful on these projects. We're happy to put our expertise to work on such environmentally sensitive and worthwhile projects," noted Bell's CEO, Steve Levy, who accepted the award at a ceremony in Waukesha, Wis., on May 14.

This year marks the 20th anniversary that the Wisconsin Environmental Working Group, an affiliate of the Wisconsin Manufacturers & Commerce, has honored companies that "demonstrate that sound environmental practices are good for Wisconsin's environment and its economy."

Island Photos Credit: Island Conservation