As many of you know, on April 20th a massive oil well in the Gulf of Mexico ruptured causing an explosion on BP’s Deepwater Horizon drilling platform, leading to the devastating leakage of millions of gallons of oil on a daily basis. The initial explosion caused the death of eleven workers on the rig, and the oil spill has killed countless animals and other living creatures.
Since this catastrophe has unfolded, experts of all levels and areas have been working desperately to try and figure out a way to not only contain the relentless gushing of oil into the waters, but also a way to clean up the oil that pollutes the water already.
At first, the best idea that they could come up with was to throw a box over the leak and suck up all of the oil…which did not go very well. After that, it was thought that some sort of sponge or absorption device would be the best bet. Now, the LA Times is reporting that the very best option might just lie in the hands of none other than actor Kevin Costner.
Click over to find out what Costner has to offer, and to see a video of the efforts so far.
So what could Kevin Costner possibly bring to the table? Well, as it turns out, back in 1989 around the time of the Exxon Valdez oil spill, a technology was developed with the Department of Energy that Costner decided to purchase. After buying the technology, the actor put it in the hands of a team of scientists and engineers to do whatever was necessary to perfect the imperfections of its original design. At present day, 15-years and $24 million of Costner’s own money later…this oil-removing system is ready to go, and some think it’s just the answer for the Gulf Coast spill.
Costner didn’t comment on the plans, but his business partner John Houghtaling did talk about it and explained in detail what this technology can actually do:
The machines are essentially like big vacuum cleaners, which sit on barges and suck up oily water and spin it around at high speed. On one side, it spits out pure oil, which can be recovered. The other side spits out 99% pure water.
We could have as many as 26 machines dispatched throughout the gulf. Our largest machine is 112 inches high, weighs 2 ½ tons and cleans 210,000 gallons a day of oily water. We are hoping to have 10 machines that size out there — meaning we could potentially clean 2 million gallons of oil water a day.
BP likes the idea and is ready to test out six of these machines next week. If all goes well there, then all the necessary steps will be taken to secure them as the hopeful solution that they’ve been seeking.
Other big names in Hollywood have also gotten involved. Avatar director James Cameron has offered the use of his mini-submarine-like submersible vehicles that we’ve seen in some of his documentary work exploring the Titanic wreckage and in Aliens of the Deep.
As you read above, the first option was to throw a box over the leak. Just so you know exactly how this went (and because I couldn’t resist the chance to share this video with you), here’s John Stewart’s take on the spill and the efforts so far…which, as you know is always the best person to seek outside opinion from.
Video
