The "Kevin Costner Solution" to Oil Spill

[Phx_Dem]

Saw this in my morning paper and thought it was a joke. It's not and they think it may work.

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

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 1995 maritime film, "Waterworld," a post-apocalyptic epic that was plagued by problems and was a huge box-office flop.

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Meanwhile, "Avatar" Director James Cameron has said he would make his underwater vessels available.

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Houghtaling said Costner bought the technology, developed with help from the Department of Energy after the 1989 Exxon Valdez disaster, and turned it over to a team of scientists and engineers for fine-tuning.

"The machines are essentially like big vacuum cleaners, which sit on barges and suck up oily water and spin it around at high speed," Houghtaling said. "On one side, it spits out pure oil, which can be recovered. The other side spits out 99 percent pure water."

Talk about the machine has intrigued BP, the party responsible for the well blowout that caused an explosion on the Deepwater Horizon on April 20, killing 11 workers and triggering one of the largest oil spills in U.S. history. "BP has agreed to test Mr. Costner's machines," BP spokesman Mark Proegler said. "Of course, they need to meet regulations with respect to discharge."

With oil washing up on a portion of southeastern Louisiana's swampy edges, word of Costner's devices and their potential capabilities triggered intense lobbying over where they should be stationed first.

High on the list of prospective sites is Plaquemines Parish, where "we've already lost 24 miles of marshland," Nungesser said. "Everything in it — frogs, crickets, fish and plant life — is dead and never coming back."

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http://seattletimes.nwsource.com/html/nationworld/2011925837_oilkevin22.html?syndication=rss

[LakeSamish706]

1. I sure hope it works, cause we need a miracle right now to resolve this thing. n/t

[Kerrytravelers]

2. Oh, those Hollywood Liberals, giving a damn about humanity and all.

Funny, I don't see the rw loonies in Hollywood out there to help out.

Where is Voight, Heaton, Hassleback, Grammar, Turner, Eastwood, Willis, Schwarzenegger, etc. ... :shrug:

[pokercat999]

3. Counting their oil profits? nt

[veganlush]

8. are you sure about Eastwood? i didn't know he was one of

"them". Sad.

[MgtPA]

10. Worse than that - he was photographed wearing a "Palin" hat in 2008.

[Cha]

16. He might as well wear a hat that says..

"I'M AN IDIOT..DON'T TRUST ME." :silly:

[Phx_Dem]

11. He's definitely "one of them." n/t

[Kerrytravelers]

12. Unfortunately.

He cut a telephone robo-call for a republicans SOS campaign here in California. (They lost, teehee.) Somehow, we got that robo call, which is strange since there has NEVER been a registered rethug in my home.

[Cha]

15. I was going to ask the same question..I thought

I had read he had come to his senses in 2008..way too bad.

[LeftyAndProud60]

4. James Cameron has a vessel that the US government doesn't have? How is that?

If you're gonna allow people to drill that deep in the ocean, you would think we would ahve at least 20 off those subs somewhere.

[spiritual_gunfighter]

5. I heard that Cameron

has real Terminator robots as well, why aren't they helping?

[Kerrytravelers]

6. The Terminator Robot is too busy playing Governer of California.

And "acting" in a new film. http://www.imdb.com/title/tt1320253/

[Phx_Dem]

9. There are only 4 subs in the world that can go that deep and we

don't own any of them. I believe they are owned by Russia, China, Japan and someone else.

I don't know if Cameron's vessel's can't go that deep, but maybe they can. Just shows what you can do what you don't have to depend on Congress for every nickle you spend. It's laughable to think they ever would have approved such an expenditure considerig that, you know, drilling is so safe and all. Who needs contingency plans.

[saracat]

7. So BP and our damned governement is so competent we are about to be saved by an actor

and film director? What we should be horrified by is that tthe dept of energy "SOLD" this technology to Costner instead of developing it. If this works, The RW will should NEVER EVER be allowed to open their mouths about the evils of Hollyweird again.
And somewhere, somehow, we have got to stop selling our technology and start investing it in ourselves.I certainly hope Costner soaks BP for every penny he can get. And Cameron should charge a huge rental on the subs.

[drm604]

13. I don't buy it.

This may clean up some surface oil, but how can it clean up thousands of square miles of oil, much of which is suspended deep under the water?

Can it clean up the oil that's been "dispersed"? Can it clean up the toxic dispersant?

How can you possibly run all of that water through this equipment? Even if you could, what damage would we be doing by stirring up and centrifuging/filtering that much water?

The impression I have is that this equipment is designed for surface spills, and relatively limited ones at that.

[HooptieWagon]

14. If it can vacuum and separate surface oil

it can probably do the same with underwater plumes, if they can be located... which is why it's important that scientists be given access to the whole region around the spill.