http://www.11alive.com/rss/rss_story.aspx?storyid=143937Hair Booms for the Gulf Spill: Shear Genius or Hairbrained?
SAN FRANCISCO -- A tiny non-profit here thought it had an idea worth testing on the Gulf Coast oil spill: Try using booms created from old pantyhose stuffed with hair from pet and beauty salons to sop up the oil.
But neither the oil company nor other scientists put much stock in the idea. So now tens of thousands of "hair booms" are fast clogging the postal system and filling donated warehouses around the Gulf region.
Among the problems: It's unclear whether the volunteer-made booms are usable; they haven't been tested in an actual major oil spill; and BP, the oil company responsible for cleaning up the spill, hasn't returned the non-profit's phone calls.
Lisa Craig Gautier, 43, spent Tuesday fielding calls and e-mails from eager volunteers who are organizing "boom-B-Q" boom-making parties. She and her husband founded the group in their living room 12 years ago. Gautier says they've done "dozens" of tests using the booms, but they haven't been deployed in an actual spill or in anything like the conditions in the Gulf of Mexico, where 210,000 gallons of crude is flowing daily. (snip)
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:banghead:
Petco Inc. has also stopped sending hair. People need to realize that scientists are not in favor of the hair boom idea. But go ahead, if it makes you feel better. This will become a classic urban myth. I come from a family of marine scientists, so I feel obligated to debunk this. But it's a stimulus for hair salons and dog groomers, so that's a positive outcome anyway. "Fur balls blotting tar balls"--what?! :crazy:--not necessary, just pick up the tarballs and send them to BP. Maybe pile them up on the beach like a huge snowman praying.
Don't take my word for it about hair booms--find a scientist and ask them.
:shrug:
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PS--
this poster on Rachel Maddow's blog says it well:Question: "Don't you understand that people need to feel like they can take part in this?"
Well, sort of, but not if it takes attention from BP's responsibility to pay for this mess and arrange professional clean-up efforts. After Katrina, a lot of well-meaning people collected clothes donations and drove to N.O. with trucks full of unusable stuff. People felt as if they were doing something by donating clothes, but the feeling did not accomplish zilch. If we KNEW 100 percent the hair booms be used, NOW, and would make a difference, fine. Otherwise,
channel your energy into letter-writing Washington and keeping the heat on BP and Big Oil.Reply#10 - Fri May 14, 2010 9:50 PM EDT