Kevin Costner may hold key to oil spill cleanup

[Ralph Wiggum]

The " Kevin Costner solution" to the worsening oil spill in the Gulf of Mexico may actually work, and none too soon for the president of Plaquemines Parish.

Costner has invested 15 years and about $24 million in a novel way of sifting oil spills that he began working on while making his own maritime film, "Waterworld," released in 1995.

Two decades later, BP and the U.S. Coast Guard plan to test six of his massive, stainless steel centrifugal oil separators next week. Plaquemines Parish President Billy Nungesser welcomed the effort, even as he and Louisiana officials blasted the U.S. Army Corps of Engineers for delays in approving an emergency plan to build sand "islands" to protect the bayous of his parish.

"It certainly is an odd thing to see a 'Kevin Costner' and a 'centrifugal oil separator' together in a place like the Gulf of Mexico," said actor Stephen Baldwin, who is producing a documentary about the oil spill and Costner's device. "But, hey, some of the best ideas sometimes come from the strangest places."

LINK

[Hawkgirl]

We can send people to the moon...but we can't stop an oil well from massive leakage.  Isn't there a giant syphon somewhere out there?

[thundley4]

It would be nice if something good came from the movie Waterworld.

[Chris_]

We can send people to the moon, but we can't stop Kevin Costner from making movies.

It sounds like a neat idea.  Hope it works.

[vesta111]

We can send people to the moon, but we can't stop Kevin Costner from making movies.

It sounds like a neat idea.  Hope it works.

FOX had an interesting interview with the president of a company that manufactures a foam padding for mattresses I think.  He and his workers found that if they filled a pool with 200 gallons of water and poured in 50 gallons of motor oil their foam would soak up the oil, the pads were removed from the pool  the water was clean and the pads when wrung out the oil could be used.

This man said he can get no one in Government to listen to him or the idea that for very little money these pads could be towed by tug boats and the oil collected can be used.

I believe the days of an unknown person coming up with solutions for problems is gone.   With all the money Costner has invested in his high teck. stuff, not even knowing if it will work is worth the millions the government will pay for it.

This man may be on to something big but before he knows it someone over seas will take his idea and become a billionair.

[littlelamb]

I hope they figure it out soon before much more damage is done

[PatriotGame]

We can send people to the moon...but we can't stop an oil well from massive leakage.  Isn't there a giant syphon somewhere out there?

Just use Star Trek technology and transport a cement plug into the leaking well.
There are pressures, flow rates, and accessibility issues at magnitudes of scale that a lot of people just cannot comprehend. The oil industry has at its disposal some of the highest engineering technology in the world.

[mamacags]

I freaking loved Waterworld.

[Chris_]

I enjoyed most of it.

[thundley4]

I freaking loved Waterworld.

Are you ashamed of that fact?

[debk]

FOX had an interesting interview with the president of a company that manufactures a foam padding for mattresses I think.  He and his workers found that if they filled a pool with 200 gallons of water and poured in 50 gallons of motor oil their foam would soak up the oil, the pads were removed from the pool  the water was clean and the pads when wrung out the oil could be used.

This man said he can get no one in Government to listen to him or the idea that for very little money these pads could be towed by tug boats and the oil collected can be used.

I believe the days of an unknown person coming up with solutions for problems is gone.   With all the money Costner has invested in his high teck. stuff, not even knowing if it will work is worth the millions the government will pay for it.

This man may be on to something big but before he knows it someone over seas will take his idea and become a billionair.

I saw this same interview this morning and thought it made sense and would certainly be worth a try.

The man said a trawler pulling 300 of the mats could soak up a great deal of oil with each pass.

Doesn't seem like it would be such a huge investment to try it out.....

[mamacags]

Are you ashamed of that fact?

Not really.  I love a lot of really really stupid movies.

[jinxmchue]

Not really.  I love a lot of really really stupid movies.

It's not "THE WORST MOVIE EVER MADE."  It's actually entertaining if you keep your brain in neutral.

[Wineslob]

I'm still trying to figure out why they aren't using oil eating bacteria.

Several companies have ideas that would attack the oil at a molecular level, with proposals to use bacteria to digest the oil and one that claims to break down oil into microscopic particles that can naturally biodegrade.

Makers of that product, called Petrotech 25, said they have been knocking at BP's door for weeks but are still waiting for a response.

"It's going into the black hole, and the gravity seems to be pretty strong," said David Elmore, chief marketing officer for Petromist Environmental Solutions, which makes the product.

Like many other executives, Elmore is supremely confident -- and frustrated by the wait.

"We actually have the solution to the entire Gulf's oil spill right now in our hands, and nobody's listening," he said.

http://www.nola.com/news/t-p/stbernard/index.ssf?/base/news-3/127399140695480.xml&coll=1

[Doc]

It's interesting to note what NOBODY is telling us about this spill.......the output from this rig is "light, sweet crude".......which is about the consistancy of number 2 diesel.  A substantial percentage of it will simply evaporate after a few days in the sun.......

doc

[debk]

It's interesting to note what NOBODY is telling us about this spill.......the output from this rig is "light, sweet crude".......which is about the consistancy of number 2 diesel.  A substantial percentage of it will simply evaporate after a few days in the sun.......

doc

then what's the stuff that on the critters they are showing? and why is it brown? I seem to remember with the Valdez it was black stuff all over the birds, rocks, etc.....

[mamacags]

It's not "THE WORST MOVIE EVER MADE."  It's actually entertaining if you keep your brain in neutral.

I watched Battlefield Earth because everyone said it was the worst movie ever.  I thought that would mean that it was awesome!  Wrong.  That movie actually sucked smarts out of my brain and left a pile of shit instead.  It was just horrible.

[Chris_]

Ha ha ha... I heard the Battlefield Earth movie was awful.  The book was good -- at least most of it was.  It tended to ramble in some places.

[Doc]

then what's the stuff that on the critters they are showing? and why is it brown? I seem to remember with the Valdez it was black stuff all over the birds, rocks, etc.....

Likely a combination of oil residue, algae, and other saltwater contaminants.  The crude from the Valdez spill was north slope heavy crude, which is a different type of oil entirely.  There are many varieties of crude oil, ranging from the "light, sweet" under discussion to Venezuelan "tar" crude, which is the consistency or roofing tar......

I'm not saying that the Gulf spill will not result in some environmental damage, just that it appears to me to be VASTLY overstated by both the press, and the politicions.

It would be wise to believe virtually nothing that appears in the media about this, as I have yet to see any media report that included commentary by unbiased experts in the field of petroleum production, engineering, and technology.  All we hear is doomshouting, fingerpointing, and myths and uneducated "opinions".  These are not facts.........

doc

[bkg]

FOX had an interesting interview with the president of a company that manufactures a foam padding for mattresses I think.  He and his workers found that if they filled a pool with 200 gallons of water and poured in 50 gallons of motor oil their foam would soak up the oil, the pads were removed from the pool  the water was clean and the pads when wrung out the oil could be used.

This man said he can get no one in Government to listen to him or the idea that for very little money these pads could be towed by tug boats and the oil collected can be used.

I believe the days of an unknown person coming up with solutions for problems is gone.   With all the money Costner has invested in his high teck. stuff, not even knowing if it will work is worth the millions the government will pay for it.

This man may be on to something big but before he knows it someone over seas will take his idea and become a billionaire.

Dry wheat and straw do the same thing....

[debk]

Dry wheat and straw do the same thing....

We had ABC? nat'l news on while eating dinner, and the reporter was talking about the wheat/straw thing too....and that BP has not responded to a single "idea" emailed to them with a way to mop up the oil?

What the heck are they waiting for? Some of this stuff is not that expensive - relatively speaking. They could at least try one or two....

[bkg]

We had ABC? nat'l news on while eating dinner, and the reporter was talking about the wheat/straw thing too....and that BP has not responded to a single "idea" emailed to them with a way to mop up the oil?

What the heck are they waiting for? Some of this stuff is not that expensive - relatively speaking. They could at least try one or two....

Catch-22. If they throw wheat/straw into the water, they'll be accused to environmental terrorism by "dumping" more things into the water.

Additionally, they likely are working under gov't regulations that prevent the opportunity to do simple things like the weat/straw idea... Oil is one of THE MOST REGULATED industries on earth. I'd bet 10:1 their hands are tied.

[thundley4]

During the press conference today, it was kind of interesting. The fed can't take over without possibly letting BP off the hook for cleanup costs. Then there is the little fact that the government has no one that has a clue of what to do either.


The solution is really simple.  Drill on land, and in shallower water.

[bkg]

The solution is really simple.  Drill on land, and in shallower water.

Shit happens. Limiting drilling to land and shallow water will not eliminate risk of shit happening. When something happens on land, do you then demand we don't drill on land?

Deregulation and common sense are key.

[thundley4]

Shit happens. Limiting drilling to land and shallow water will not eliminate risk of shit happening. When something happens on land, do you then demand we don't drill on land?

Deregulation and common sense are key.

One of the big problems in stopping this oil flow is the depth at which it is happening. In shallower water or on land this would have been done and over with in a matter of days.