The Region - News from July 16, 1986

The L.A. Department of Airports will contribute $60,000 to test an invention that a New Jersey engineer claims will clear fog from runways at Los Angeles International Airport. If the test succeeds, the city will be the first airport operator in the nation to purchase the system. Meredith C. Gourdine, creator of the Gourdine EGD Fog Dispersal System, said his invention uses a fine mist of tiny, electrically charged water droplets that is sprayed into the fog from small boxes placed along the runway. The ionized mist attracts larger water droplets in the fog, transferring the electrical charge and making the larger droplets fall like rain, he said. The U.S. Department of Energy, the Air Force and several private businesses are also providing funds for a $480,000 test project next month at an Upstate New York airport.