We have operated successfully glass resistive plate counters in the streame
r mode at the BELLE experiment by using a nonflammable gas mixture of argon
30 %, butane-silver 8 %, and freon, HFC-134a 62 %. This freon is non-ozone
-depleting but has a high global warming potential (1300 times higher than
that of CO2). Thus freon gases might be unusable in the near future. We tes
ted the performance of a glass resistive plate counter operated in the stre
amer mode with an alternative gas mixtures of argon, butane, CO2, and/or O-
2 gases and found an efficiency of about 90 %.