BP calls in Costner's $26m vacuum cleaners to mop up huge oil spill

[Voice for Peace]

Source: The Independent

Desperate times call for desperate measures. So with hundreds of thousands of gallons of oil still spewing into the Gulf of Mexico each day, and its corporate image starting to resemble the tar-covered sea creatures now washing on to Louisiana's fragile shoreline, BP has called on Kevin Costner to help stave off environmental Armageddon.

The Hollywood star has been bobbing around the Mississippi Delta helping representatives of the British oil firm and US coastguard test-drive a stainless steel device called the Ocean Therapy. In a claim which sounds as unlikely as the plot premise of Waterworld, he says it can quickly and efficiently clean oil from tainted sea water.

Bizarrely, Costner may be on to something. The actor has spent 15 years and roughly $26m (£18m) of his personal fortune developing the patented machine with the help of his elder brother Dan, a scientist. It works like a giant vacuum cleaner, sucking up dirty liquid and then using a high-speed centrifuge to separate it into oil, and heavier water.

When he allowed the local media to see Ocean Therapy in action – albeit on dry land – it appeared to work as advertised. Yesterday, six of the devices were attached to boats and floated into the Gulf, so the organisers of the clean-up operation could see whether they might also be capable of functioning on the high seas.

Read more: http://www.independent.co.uk/news/world/americas/bp-calls-in-costners-26m-vacuum-cleaners-to-mop-up-huge-oil-spill-1979976.html

[HereSince1628]

1. Lets get spinning!

:thumbsup:

[4dsc]

2. Need a super tanker too..

He's going to need a couple of super tankers to help him with this job.

[babylonsister]

3. Part of the problem with that is they'd be vying for space

with all the ships/boats/vessels currently out there. Also, the depth of the water is an issue; how much does a super tanker weigh when it's full, and is there enough water out there to keep it afloat vs. running aground. These were Thad Allen's concerns.

[laughingliberal]

7. Thad Allen's intentions may be good but the people who have successfully cleaned a massive spill...

say otherwise. It's interesting to me they can't get BP to return their calls. Why would BP not want to talk to a guy who cleaned an 800 million gallon spill.

[WillyT]

10. Why Not Use Both ??? - Tankers In Deeper Water, And...

Costner's device in shallower waters?

:shrug:

[babylonsister]

12. I think someone has to figure out what will actually work and go for

it. If that includes tankers or Costner's contraption, that's fine with me. The problem is, no one seems to have a clue.

[notadmblnd]

17. They also seem to be paralyzed by indecision

I read an article over a week ago about BP testing these machines. I realize it take time to get things in place, but hell, aren't these the people with enough money to make things happen overnight?

[laughingliberal]

21. "Someone has figured it out and cleaned a bigger spill than this in 1993

It's weird how he's being ignored. I can only surmise BP doesn't like the cost involved in using this proven method.

http://www.esquire.com/blogs/politics/gulf-oil-spill-supertankers-051310

There's a potential solution to the Gulf oil spill that neither BP, nor the federal government, nor anyone — save a couple intuitive engineers — seems willing to try. As The Politics Blog reported on Tuesday in an interview with former Shell Oil president John Hofmeister, the untapped solution involves using empty supertankers to suck the spill off the surface, treat and discharge the contaminated water, and either salvage or destroy the slick.


Hofmeister had been briefed on the strategy by a Houston-based environmental disaster expert named Nick Pozzi, who has used the same solution on several large spills during almost two decades of experience in the Middle East — who says that it could be deployed easily and should be, immediately, to protect the Gulf Coast. That it hasn't even been considered yet is, Pozzi thinks, owing to cost considerations, or because there's no clear chain of authority by which to get valuable ideas in the right hands. But with BP's latest four-pronged plan remaining unproven, and estimates of company liability already reaching the tens of billions of dollars (and counting), supertankers start to look like a bargain.

UPDATE (May 27): Obama Glances Over Supertanker Question as BP, Coast Guard Fail to Respond
UPDATE (May 26): The Pragmatic Oil Spill Fix That BP's Still Waiting On
UPDATE (May 24): Sources Say BP Looking Beyond 'Top Kill' with Supertanker Fix
UPDATE (May 21): Why the Supertanker Fix Works at Depth... but the Government Won't Listen

The suck-and-salvage technique was developed in desperation across the Arabian Gulf following a spill of mammoth proportions — 700 million gallons — that has until now gone unreported, as Saudi Arabia is a closed society, and its oil company, Saudi Aramco, remains owned by the House of Saud. But in 1993 and into '94, with four leaking tankers and two gushing wells, the royal family had an environmental disaster nearly sixty-five times the size of Exxon Valdez on its hands, and it desperately needed a solution.

[Edweird]

4. Good to hear. Too bad this didn't happen at Obama's behest a month ago.

Better late than never.

[Captain Hilts]

5. Three weeks too late. nt

[Tansy_Gold]

11. Four weeks -- the article is a week old (5/22/10) n/t

[joanmj]

13. thanks

[HillGal]

6. Here's hoping Kevin Costner comes in to save the day. NT

NT

[Phoebe Loosinhouse]

8. I will never say an unkind word about Kevin Costner again

(Even about Robin Hood)

Just an amazing story! I give him kudos and consider him a great person and environmentalist who put a lot of his own money in finding real answers.

[Jennicut]

15. LOL. Costner is a good guy.

I hope they get these machines to somehow do something here. It is a very good idea, they just need a whole lot of them.

[left is right]

20. It will be mighty hard to quit bashing “The Postman” and “Dances with Wolves"

But if his invention saves the day, I will buy a copy of both. I probably won’t ever watch them but I will buy them

[tammywammy]

28. You didn't even mention the worst movie ever...

Waterworld



:scared:

[undeterred]

22. Makes me look at him in a whole different way.

He's a good guy, a decent actor- but this shows a real commitment to the environment that you don't often see from Hollywood. Thank you, Kevin Costner.

[Coyote_Bandit]

9. Makes perfect sense

Oil and water don't mix. A high speed centrifuge would separate the two quickly.

[HughMoran]

14. Weird, this story i s8 days old, yet I haven't heard about these skimmers being used

I wonder how they're doing?

[Tansy_Gold]

16. I have found NOTHING in the news regarding the Costner offer

newer than 5/22 -- the rest are blogs and reprints.

So, what the hell is goin' on? Did BP reject it? Did the equipment not perform as expected? Was Costner -- or just his silence-- bought out?

:shrug:


TG

[gristy]

18. Odd article

From the article: "Although one relief well was drilled last week, and is said to be capturing 200,000 gallons of oil a day, the firm now admits that it could take until August to plug the leak."

:shrug:

[mhatrw]

19. BP stonewalls plan to vacuum up oil & instead tries to bury scope of disaster with dispersants.

http://www.democraticunderground.com/discuss/duboard.php?az=view_all&address=389x8446359

[shanti]

23. it sounds good in theory

but in this case, the well is still spewing with no end in sight. :shrug:

[Downtown Hound]

25. Well, if these devices really work

Then we can build a shitload of them and at least have a chance at combating the spill as it occurs. Meanwhile the relief wells can continue to be drilled.

[wordpix]

26. better than what's been tried BUT it cleans 5-200 gal water per minute

meanwhile, there's a helluva lot of ocean polluted by BP in comparison

[Maru Kitteh]

24. We need to try any and EVERY non-toxic solution!

[Control-Z]

27. If I am reading this correctly ,

BP claims to be worried about regulations, and the purity of the water after it's been cleaned?

'BP was cautiously optimistic about the machines, saying they could provide a valuable tool in the armoury of clean-up workers, provided they "meet regulations with regard to discharge". '

Riiight.

Is ANYONE buying this?