March 2012
March 1, 2012
Open letter to U.S. Microbics, Inc. Shareholders
Over the past 4 years I have voluntarily tried to keep BUGS in operation with various potential strategic financial and operational partners. I have also appealed to the shareholders for funds to pay auditors and attorneys for audited financial report filings and sufficient working capital to continue ongoing public company operations.
Unfortunately for all shareholders, and I am one of the largest shareholders, the company has been unable to file audited statements and therefore was delisted in February, 2012 for no other reason and is now a private company. As a private company, BUGS can still sell products, and collect license fees from its licensees as they produce revenue, and these funds can be applied to further the operation of the company, possible distribution to shareholders, or a new public company filing.
I will continue to seek new opportunities, new management talent or otherwise to bring value to existing shareholders. If any shareholders have suggestions as to future opportunities, please contact me.
Robert C Brehm, CEO
bob@usmicrobics.com
BUGS Announces New Products and Initiates Microbe Shipments
Carlsbad, Calif. – August 11, 2010 – Robert Brehm, CEO of U.S. Microbics (Pinksheets: BUGS), an environmental products marketing and licensing company announced that it has added several new products to its Remediline™, Wasteline™ and Bio-Miracle™ product lines and will begin shipments of consumer microbe products this week.
BUGS is announcing the following new products in its product lines:
Remediline™ – Remediation products including SPILL KILL PRO™, an oil spill cleanup product for soil and tank applications and SIZZLE CLEAN™ – a microbe water based fizzing tablet for parts cleaning applications.
Wasteline™ – Waste management products including MANURE KING™ for cow/horse/pig manure control, and SPARKLE CLEAN™ for septic and cesspool cleanup.
Bio-Miracle™ agricultural products for increased plant health, size and yield improvement including newly reformulated and improved TOO TALL TOMOTOES™, and COMPOST PAL™ for backyard composting acceleration.
BUGS will begin shipment this week of SPILL KILL PRO™ and TOO TALL TOMATOES™, a plant health enhancer, to its retail affiliate, Pacific Sands, Inc. for repackaging into consumer products and subsequent sale to consumers on its website www.EcoGeeks.com.
Robert Brehm, CEO commented, “I am excited about our new product formulations and initiating shipment of microbe based products for direct consumer purchase through our affiliate partner. We are currently documenting and designing product labels, packaging and descriptions for our new products and hope to have them posted on our website in the near future and to begin deliveries in the next quarter. The restart of microbe product shipments is a major milestone for the company and we expect it to lead to improved revenues in 2011 as we raise additional capital to expand our product lines, web presence and production and distribution channels.”
About U.S. Microbics Inc.
U.S. Microbics is an environmental products marketing and licensing company that acquires, develops and deploys innovative green technologies for environmental cleanup, agriculture yield enhancement, and waste stream treatment.
For more information on the company visit the website at www.usmicrobics.com .
The information contained in this press release includes forward-looking statements. Forward-looking statements usually contain the words “estimate,” “anticipate,” “believe,” “expect” or similar expressions that involve risks and uncertainties. These risks and uncertainties include the company’s status as a startup company with uncertain profitability, need for significant capital, uncertainty concerning market acceptance of its products, competition, limited service and manufacturing facilities, dependence on technological developments and protection of its intellectual property. The company’s actual results could differ materially from those discussed herein.
Gulf Oil Spill Opportunities for Small Companies
Is the Gulf Oil Spill capped? We all hope that the leak is stopped, but many have estimated the cleanup will take 3 to 5 years leaving plenty of opportunity for small companies to contribute their expertise, products and services to solve the remaining contamination problems.
The key to small company success is targeting niche market opportunities for unique products and services that solve oil spill contamination problems. The problems to address are:
- Cleanup of the contaminated items including soil, sand, marine life, marshes, boats, harbors, etc.
- Treatment/disposal of the contaminants such as crude oil, sludges, tar balls, and the chemicals used to treat the contaminants as well as the booms and straw and absorbents used to capture the oil.
Each of these problems has many conventional solutions including:
- Dig up the problem soil/sand and transfer to a landfill and bury the problem in somebody else’s backyard where it may someday enter the nearby water supply.
- Collect the tar balls and floating oil and containerize it and bury in a landfill in a jurisdiction where it is not considered “hazardous”. (The famous ticking time bomb)!
- Use portable incinerators to burn contamination.
- Clean the critters (including people) and equipment contaminated with oil using chemicals that are themselves hydrocarbon based. Flush the cleaning solutions down the drain or capture for disposal in a landfill.
At BUGS we look for non-conventional, earth-friendly methods of solving these problems for good not just treating the symptom of in-your-face contamination. Here are some great opportunities we have identified for the BUGS technology:
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Contaminated items cleanup solutions:
- Remove contaminated soil/sand to a temporary Soil Recycling Center (SRC) where it is treated with our microbial products and the contamination is reduced to a level for same or alternative use at a later time. The SRC can be onsite or a permanent remote location which treats contaminated soil from many Gulf Oil spill locations and other contaminated situations (gas stations, pipe leaks, etc).
- Onsite treatment using the patented Bio-Raptor™ system which treats up to 500 tons/hour with microbes which transform the hydrocarbons to carbon dioxide and water eliminating the contamination source forever!
- Use non-chemical cleaning solutions for critters, people, parts and equipment contaminated by oil. Natural detergents and disbursants are earth friendly and non-irritating to animals and human beings without causing additional contamination. These products can be sold in convenient sizes for retail consumer use and in larger commercial/industrial sizes.
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Contamination cleanup solution:
- Use onsite tanks to contain the captured oil and tar balls and treat with SPILL KILL™ to turn the oil into carbon dioxide and water. This solution also works offsite in a central processing center like the SRC. Reclamation of the oil for alternative use is a part of this solution.
- Use our patented Bio-GAC™ and GAC™ filtration systems design to filter oily contaminated water for recycling into the wastewater system.
- Treat the oil booms, straw and absorbents with SPILL KILL™ to convert the contamination into carbon dioxide and water. Dispose of booms when decontamination is complete.
The quickest road to revenue is through product sales directly to local contractors, consumers and local governmental agencies that need immediate decontamination solutions rather than permits/permission from federal government bureaucrats imposing conventional solutions. BUGS and its strategic partners are working together on specific solutions targeted at the local markets.
CEO Interview on Racine-Green
Robert Brehm, CEO gave an interview to Racine Green today and spoke about US Microbics and product uses for the Gulf Oil Spill, plant growth, and other applications. The interview can be heard at: http://www.blogtalkradio.com/green-racine/2010/07/16/robert-c-brehm-of-us-microbics-and-the-gulf-oil-spill
BUGS Negotiating with Investors for Canadian Fermentation Plant License
-Investors want microbes for international agriculture applications -
Carlsbad, Calif. – July 11, 2010 – Robert Brehm, CEO of U.S. Microbics (Pinksheets: BUGS), an innovative environmental products and licensing company announced that it is in negotiations with a Canadian investment group who want to use the Bio-Miracle™ microbe technology for international agriculture applications in Canada and China. The technology aids plant health for higher yields with reduced water and little or no chemical fertilizer requirements – perfect for arid, developing, third world countries.
BUGS has already licensed the Bio-Miracle™ agriculture technology to its sister company, Green Mountain Development Corp. (Pinksheets: GMND) for deployment in the USA and the new license may be an extension of the existing license or an altogether new license depending upon the outcome of the negotiations.
Robert Brehm, CEO commented, “I am excited about the prospect of engaging outside investors in the deployment of the microbial technology to help the people in developing countries learn to feed themselves using low cost soil amendments which don’t pollute the soil like chemical fertilizers, yet achieve significant yield improvement and require less water. This technology is an excellent low cost way to improve food production using non-toxic, natural soil amendments.”
Brehm continued, “I am considering a new license of the Bio-Miracle™ technology as well as an extension of the existing GMND license and a control position in GMND to get this important technology to the masses who need to safely increase their food supply without harming mother Gaea. The investor’s goal is to raise $5-10MM to focus on finalizing the brands and packaging, fermenting and packaging the microbial blends, launching international retail and wholesale marketing and sales, field testing for multiple markets, and adapting the current liquid products to dry forms for agricultural markets. The resulting royalties to BUGS could have a significant impact on our shareholder value as well as GMND.”
About U.S. Microbics Inc.
U.S. Microbics is a business development and holding company that acquires, develops and deploys innovative technologies through its licensees for environmental cleanup, agriculture yield enhancement, and waste stream treatment.
For more information on the company visit the website at www.usmicrobics.com .
The information contained in this press release includes forward-looking statements. Forward-looking statements usually contain the words “estimate,” “anticipate,” “believe,” “expect” or similar expressions that involve risks and uncertainties. These risks and uncertainties include the company’s status as a startup company with uncertain profitability, need for significant capital, uncertainty concerning market acceptance of its products, competition, limited service and manufacturing facilities, dependence on technological developments and protection of its intellectual property. The company’s actual results could differ materially from those discussed herein.
The Politics of Environmental Cleanup
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Cleanup is not just a technical activity, it is also a political process -
To be successful in the environmental cleanup business, a company needs to have effective technology AND resources to navigate the political process because cleanup is not just a technical activity; it is also a political process.
The environmental cleanup process seems straightforward: investigate the nature and extent of the contamination, identify the responsible parties, assess and design the scope of work, budget cleanup funds, identify the appropriate contractors and then clean up the site. The technical alternatives of “BUG-BURY-BURN” are straightforward solutions for cleanup, but the political steps and decisions of project jurisdiction and oversight, “best” technical solution to use (for the benefits of the oversight agency AND the victims of the contamination problem AND environmentalists), government and community involvement, and acceptable levels of “cleanup” for all parties can significantly extend the time to define, write remediation plans, win bids, deal with environmentalists and government “inspectors”, initiate work, get paid and eventually complete the cleanup.
Cleanup is not just a technical activity; it is also a political process. With a legal cleanup activity, the future use of the contaminated site needs to be determined as well as the technology to support the future use (e.g. cleanup the beach so it can be used by people again verses closing for many years and letting nature takes it course). The process of identifying the issues, setting cleanup goals and defining appropriate solutions constitutes the “politics of cleanup”. The parties to the process include federal, state, and local governmental agencies, community members, and pollution generators who all need to form a working partnership to develop cleanup expectations, monitor progress for cleanup success. The dynamics of the partnership and how well it is managed will determine the extent, time line and success of the cleanup.
The environmental cleanup industry today is just that, an industry, with well-established trading partners who have mutually beneficial, co-dependent relationships. Some critics deride the environmental industry as a Conspiracy of Compliance, but that characterization is unfair. Each party has its own role in the industry, which is driven, first and foremost, by government regulation (which often benefits the growth of government agencies through long term projects requiring more staff and higher budgets).
The “generators” (formerly known as the “polluters”) face potentially huge liabilities if they aggressively move to repair the cumulative damage caused, for example, by oil spills or leaky underground storage tanks. The way the laws are written and the regulations are enforced, a slow-but-steady approach is in their economic interests and often in the political interests of the government agencies and/or local and federal politicians.
In response to the need for taking action, generators hire engineering firms that meticulously measure the levels of pollution and generate reams of report pages. In many cases the physical clean-up efforts do not begin until years after identification of the problems but the engineers and the government agencies are at full employment to “study” the problem to determine the “best” remediation path. Best in most cases is what takes the longest while meeting state and federal mandates for “cleanup” to levels of future use.
The engineers who study a specific site and design the remediation response often are then deemed the best-qualified to manage the clean-up process. The industry standard is for clean-ups to be accomplished on a time-and-materials basis. There are no guarantees of results, and the clean-up effort takes as long as necessary. The longer it takes under a time-and-materials contract, the more the total fees increase for the firms hired to conduct the clean-up and the fees generated by the governmental agencies. This tedious treat-the-symptoms approach may produce only incremental improvements at the site, but it demonstrates a good-faith effort on the part of the generators to comply with applicable regulations.
The regulators, such as the EPA and corresponding state and local agencies, are another important component of the industry. A single hazardous waste site typically falls under the jurisdiction of a dozen to two dozen government agencies. These include Federal, state, regional, county, and city agencies for water, air, public safety, worker safety, etc. These agencies are trying their best, but they often have overlapping and competing responsibilities, with no single agency providing oversight of the overall clean-up process yet all want to get their “piece of the pie”.
By way of example, U.S. Microbics was invited to participate in a cleanup competition to see which technology could do the best job of cleaning-up contaminated beach sand. Of all the competing firms, U.S. Microbics delivered the best results in the least time for the lowest cost. The multiple governmental agencies and groups that judged the competition were pleased and impressed with the work of U.S. Microbics which eliminated the problem once and for all in a short period of time.
All that remained was for the judges to declare the test site cleaned-up and declare U.S. Microbics to be the winner of the competition. But the judges, outside environmental groups and the polluter were unable to agree on a precise definition of “clean” and thus the solution was to study the problem for 3 more years to the benefit of the oversight agency, the environmentalists (more contributions to champion their efforts), and the polluter who could defer major expenses until a new report was written and the problem solution revisited. The technology was right for the problem, but the political process overrides technology most of the time. To be successful, the political process must be managed just like the technology process.
Changing an industry takes time. Countless billions of dollars of liability are at stake, and the safest course of action (and maximum revenue generator) from the industry’s standpoint, is to study the problems over and over, then treat the symptoms on a time-and-materials “best efforts” basis using a technology that takes the longest time (a.k.a.: bury the problem, or burn the problem or “fluff” the soil to delay the cleanup) while meeting minimum cleanup standards. Open projects create government agency and contractor revenue, closed projects stop the revenue.
Bioremediation is a cheap and effective solution – it treats the problem not the symptom and is best for the victims of the contamination. Bury, burn and fluff are best for the contractors and government agencies but not the victims. Isn’t it time to revise this crazy system of political nonsense?
We believe it’s time for a change, and U.S. Microbics is leading the way with its bioremediation technology, completed projects, recognition by regulatory agencies and environmental groups, and its understanding of the political process. The next step is to partner with companies with strong political ties that can bridge the political process for the benefit of local politicians who are engaged to solve local problems, take the glory and get on to the next problem solution.
How do we tie all this experience and knowledge to using BUGS technology to help the victims of the Gulf Oil Spill? Stay tuned for the next chapter about our new SPILL KILL product line.
BUGS Bioremediation Technologies
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BUGS bioremediation technologies cleaned up the Santa Barbara Oil Spill remains in the 1960′s, decontaminated the Queen Mary cruise ship in the 1980′s, treated tar balls at Guadalupe Beach, and removed crude oil from tar pits in the 2000′s together with 100′s of other cleanup project in the interim.
Everyone who fully understands our bioremediation products and services knows that our solutions are better, faster, cheaper, and safer for the environment!
Our solutions turn toxic hydrocarbons into non-toxic water and carbon dioxide, by creating conditions that promote the growth and appetite of microbes we add to the contamination site. These single-cell “bugs” literally eat toxic organic chemicals. When the toxic-chemical food supply is gone, the microorganism populations die and become a natural amendment to the soil. Our proprietary blends of Nature’s own microbes are as useful as bread yeast, and just as harmless yet they make contamination disappear with ease.
So why doesn’t the world beat a path to the door of U.S. Microbics to engage our services?
The first part of the answer is that we are in the process of reactivating the technology and collaborating with other companies to deploy the products at environmental disasters such as the Gulf Oil Spill and effected areas. Our recent teaming agreement with Pacific Sands has both company’s technical staff developing new products specific to the current oil spill disaster.
The second part of the answer is the focus of this blog post: understanding the challenges faced by every innovative technology including our bioremediation solutions.
You’ve probably heard of Isaac Newton’s First Law of Motion: “objects at rest tend to remain at rest until acted upon by an outside force.”
In the environmental industry, the “objects at rest” are the established (read politically correct – more about that in a later post) disposal methods of incineration (“burn it”) and long-term storage or landfill disposal (“bury it” – but not in my back yard!). The providers of these outdated disposal methods are major corporations with a vested financial and political interest in resisting innovation. They don’t welcome change, because the status quo benefits them. Bioremediation is the outside force that is trying to replace their marginally efficient methods with our superior solutions.
“First they ignore you, then they ridicule you, then they fight you, and then you win.”
— Gandhi
U.S. Microbics is working to change the status quo in the environmental industry. Fortunately, the Environmental Protection Agency (EPA) is on our side in fighting the Goliaths. The EPA recognizes the tremendous untapped potential of bioremediation as a viable alternative to the industry-dominating “burn” and “bury” technologies (see EPA Article here).
Whenever an innovative technology is introduced, patterns of resistance are predictable. According to one widely cited study on innovation, only 3.5% of people and companies are immediately receptive to any type of innovation. These companies are the primary focus of U.S. Microbics’ marketing and sales efforts for its bioremediation products.
The market response to reactivating our technology has been overwhelming and our new challenge is to connect with companies and partners who have the capital and deployment resources to utilize our rich history of bioremediation technologies which change the industry, one clean-up site at a time.
My Green Balloon
In 2012 in stadiums and coliseums around the world, thousands of people will meet to celebrate their combined efforts to make the earth a better, healthier place to live. Each person will have earned their “Green Balloon” admission ticket by changing their daily habits and activities to become better friends of our world.
Educate, Communicate, Advocate
We all need to learn as much as we can about making environmentally responsible decisions about everyday activities and the products we buy, because our consumer dollars are our votes in the marketplace. Every purchase is a vote for or against the planet’s future. Shouldn’t we learn to buy the right things from the right companies that meet our needs and benefit the planet?
We also need to communicate effectively with others, through our words and actions. By forming groups to discuss issues and communicate with government leaders, we become advocates for the positive change we desire and our planet needs.
U.S. Microbics is a catalyst for environmental change. Its products, and soon-to-be-acquired multi-media communications company and Green Awakening social network will form the basis of an international community to educate, collaborate and advocate with like minded people about new green products, services, and affiliations that positively effect the environment we call planet Earth.
Are you ready to make the change we need to improve the health of our planet? Anybody can do it, not every one will! The journey begins when you are ready to take it.
You can start here:
Educate yourself by downloading the environmental eBook at www.myGreenBalloon.com
Communicate, organize and participate in local green events by joining our social network at www.GreenAwakening.ning.com
Earn your place at our 2012 event by telling us about how you deserve a “Green Balloon” – upload your story or video to www.MyGreenBalloon.com or www.GreenAwakening.ning.com so others can follow in your foot steps.
Tell others about what you are doing and get them to help our planet with you.
Ready?
I challenge you to find your place in our world.
I’m waiting……..
Fast Forward
The Green movement is here today. Governments, companies and individuals are becoming increasingly sensitive to the need to develop sustainable, organic and renewable solutions to the environmental problems currently facing the planet and to treat the health and welfare consequences of these problems that affect mankind. This social, political and cultural grass roots movement is predicted to grow ever stronger as political and economic pressures increase to reduce reliance on non renewable and environmentally unfriendly methods and replace them with eco-friendly products and services concurrent with affordable alternative health remedies.
U.S. Microbics, Inc. (BUGS), a twelve year old environmental technology company with proprietary microbial technology and patents for environmental cleanup and plant/food/fuel crop production (Bio-Miracle™ products), is reorganizing its operations with several key acquisitions (currently in negotiation) to provide consumers with information resources featuring innovative environmental companies and their products as well as environmental related health care issues delivered through a framework of free collaborative communication, internet resources and broadcast/cable television.
We believe a company can have a humanitarian mission and be a profit center at the same time. While there will be no charge to viewers of the information on our television shows, websites, directories, and collaboration forums, our powerful new business model fully leverages and exploits the synergy for cross marketing via internet website advertising, broadcast television and directory advertising in local, national and global markets. The international broadcasting forum also provides a vehicle for marketing our Bio-Miracle™ products worldwide with infomercials and internet advertising.
Our future vision of this scenario is still under development and the potential acquisitions are all at the negotiating table as we build a new information portal combining environmental issues, innovative products and related health care information all in one convenient place. This new organization includes our existing Bio-Miracle(TM) product line and the synergistic acquisition of (1) an internet and multi-media company specializing in broadcast television shows and companion websites in the health information fields and (2) an environmental social network company. By acquiring these two companies we can create the “Earth Connect Network” featuring an innovative green products and services program with worldwide distribution and web-based product sales, internet collaborative resources and revenue producing websites as well as a social network member base with potentially high resale value. The new combination firm could set the stage for developing a billion dollar innovative technology, resources and communications company.
Mission Statement
The BUGS mission is to empower viewers/end users with knowledge to make intelligent decisions for sourcing and purchasing green products and services and related alternative healthcare solutions, and to provide a collaborative forum for members to define, discuss and solve environmental problems.
It is time to fast forward BUGS into the 21st century using the tools of the internet and video multi-media to bring people together with companies, products and services that benefit the environment and people individually without government intervention. All it takes is time, money, a future vision and the right people to make it happen. Your CEO is working on this future vision as I try to FAST FORWARD BUGS into the company that will make us all proud.
What do you think?
Reboot
A lot of people have been working hard to restart the US Microbics operation and your CEO is one of them who has been working on a voluntary basis to rebuild websites, catalogues and brochures and rebuild relations with prior employees, vendors and resellers of BUGS products or potential licensees of the technology. While there are many challenges, there can be a successful company at then end of the day IF people cooperate, understand the future potential and work with our rich legacy of products, patents and prior successes. Our grass roots rebuilding effort ihas been slower than desired, but more and more volunteers are coming forward to add services or suggestions that keep the dream alive.
We have come too far over the past decade to look back at what didn’t work and we need to look at what we can use for the future. We can not give up and let prior setbacks keep the world from enjoying cleaner air, more abundant food sources and cleaner water.
I am asking for your help, your suggestions, your support to bring BUGS forward in the agricultural market in this new century when our future generations will need our help the most!
Captain Bob August 2009
