What about the toxic dispersants? Are they of any use, but to hide the amount of oil in the Gulf?
STOP THE DISPERSANTS
Corexit is illegal in the United Kingdom. As I wrote in an earlier post, if there is a similar problem in the UK's North Sea, BP would not be allowed to use Corexit.
The dispersant Corexit and even the "less toxic" alternative Sea Brat are both highly toxic to marine life. Yes the ocean will look better on the surface but it does not solve the problem.
There is no good reason to use dispersants because all it does is hide the oil from the surface. Are our seas and marine life not as important as the UK's North Sea and their marine life?
WHAT COAGULANTS?
The real solution seem to be "coagulants" so that congealed oil could be mechanically collected from the water surface. In the Saudi Aramco disaster, Nick Pozzi reported they successfully used flour (yes, flour for baking) and straw (yes, the one you feed to livestock) to absorb oil. The congealed oil was then mechanically collected and properly disposed of.
Sucking congealed oil floating on top of the water is easier than shoveling oil out of beach sand. In the marsh, corral reefs or Everglades it is nearly IMPOSSIBLE to extract oil.
....
VACUUM AND SUCK THE OIL OUT OF THE GULF NOW!!!
In 1993, a massive 800 million gallon oil spill happened in Saudi Arabia. Saudi Aramco successfully cleaned up that spill. The lead engineer that cleaned that spill was an American engineer who worked for Aramco. His name is Nick Pozzi and is based currently based in Houston. Apparently Pozzi offered his solution to BP and Coast Guard and they promptly dismissed his solution.
Was it too expensive?
It's a lot simpler to understand than the top kill. It simply requires oil tankers equipped with giant vacuums (think a massive wet/dry shop vac) to suck the oil and water into oil tankers. Using a centrifuge, the tankers have the capability to separate the oil and water. The water is filtered and sent back to the ocean. The oil is recovered and processed as usual.
The method has been validated by John Hofmeister, former CEO of Shell Oil. So why are we not trying it? Nobody seems to know.
How about it, White House? The author's suggestions make a lot more sense to me than any I hear from BP. BP tried the top hat, the top kill, spoke of using the junk shot, and will next attempt to cap the well with a containment valve, which is not guaranteed to work. What are the chances that it won't? If past attempts are any indication....
Read Benjamin's entire post. Lots of good stuff there.
Mimi - check this out: http://www.beowulfe.com/oil/. You already know this, but what this does is to superimpose the area of the Oil Spill to your location, once you've typed it in.
ReplyDeleteIf you type in "London, England" it covers most of the country.
I think we should send BP that image.
Elizabeth, thank you for the link. I was not aware of the site. It makes for an interesting, but not pleasant, game.
ReplyDeleteI'm sure it feels like a "game", Mimi. I do not mean by it to minimize the pain and anxiety you all in the Gulf must be experiencing. I think the point of the site - and my point in publishing it - is to prove ++KJS's point that we are all connected.
ReplyDeleteMother Earth is suffering and we all suffer with her and with each other.
Dear Elizabeth, I meant no criticism of you in my comment. Truly, I'm glad to get the link. It helps put things in perspective. I am heartsick, but life goes on in the face of the tragedy.
ReplyDeleteIf one suffers, we all suffer.
TY. I was a little concerned that I might have inadvertently offended.
ReplyDelete