If You Spill It, He Will Come

[one...two...tree 2,762]

By Kate Sheppard, Mother Jones

Kevin Costner is definitely not an oil spill expert. Flanked by four seasoned marine scientists with doctoral degrees in the subject, he was the least likely member of a panel testifying to a House subcommittee about oil spill clean ups on Wednesday. He acknowledged as much in opening remarks. "There's been some question as to why I'm here," he said. "It's not because I heard a voice in a cornfield."

But over three hours of hearings Wednesday, Costner became the unlikely voice expressing the heart of an issue that has become very clear in the past 7 weeks. Neither oil companies nor the government were adequately prepared for a major oil spill. In fact, no one really believed that one would ever happen, and for years under-invested in and under-planned response technology.

Costner seems to have developed somewhat of an obsession with oil spill clean up. He got interested in the subject in 1995, and although he says he was inspired by the Exxon Valdez spill, some have pointed out that the interest also arose right around the time he released the post-apocalypse epic Waterworld. Since then, he's spent $24 million funding Ocean Therapy Solutions, a company that has created a centrifuge device that separates oil from water.

"I have spent all my profits on oil spill clean up," Costner told the panel. The amount of money he has personally spent becomes even more significant when you consider that an official from the Minerals Management Service told the panel yesterday that it only receives between $6 million and $7 million in government funding for the research and development of oil spill clean-up technology every year.

For more than a decade now, he's presented the contraption to oil companies and government agencies, but his enthusiasm was "met with apathy," he said. "I was told it was too expensive, that spills were becoming less frequent."

The contraption is best described as a portable, vacuum-like metal unit that spins the oil out of the water. They have five different models, the largest of which can separate 210,000 gallons of water and oil per day. The company says it leaves the water 99 percent clean. BP has run several tests on the technology since the leak began, and approved it for use last month. Since then, BP has placed an order for 32 machines, the company reports, and ten machines are already out working in the Gulf. Ocean Therapy Solutions CEO John W. Houghtaling said he believes that when all these are in use, they will be able to clean 6 million gallons of water per day. (It's not clear how much of a dent this could put in the spill, the total volume of which has not been determined. And since much of the oil has been dispersed into the Gulf using chemicals, it may be harder to do much with Costner's contraption). The company envisions hundreds of these mobile units deployed around the world, ready for the next spill wherever it may occur.

Like many, I at first thought the idea of Kevin Costner as Gulf savior sounded absurd. But unlike BP or the federal government, he's actually been thinking about this issue for the past 15 years. Meanwhile, the government's response plans have remained essentially unchanged in the two decades since our last big oil spill. The two panels of independent scientists and government officials more than made that clear on Wednesday.

Costner, at least, may finally see his work validated after all these years: "If we're going to continue to see oil coming up on shore and the best we can do is hay and rubber boots," he told the committee, "maybe we can do better."

http://motherjones.com/blue-marble/2010/06/if-you-spill-it-they-will-come

[Heracles 417]

Kevin Costner is the man.

[jimnlena 8]

I am impressed, "and that is rare"

[Trumplestiltskin 5,791]

Kevin Costner is the man.

And now he has enough money to finish the Waterworld trilogy

[one...two...tree 2,762]

I am impressed, "and that is rare"

I was skeptical too, but the concept sounds logical. If we can produce hydrogenated oils through a spinning process, I imagine we can do the opposite.

[IR5FORMUMSIE 850]

Sorry, I thought that this thread had something with onanation. :whistle: Cum to think of it, he spilled it after he came. :rofl:

[one...two...tree 2,762]

Sorry, I thought that this thread had something with onanation. :whistle: Cum to think of it, he spilled it after he came. :rofl:

Considering this thread is sandwiched between the other ones, it's understandable.

[Captain Oates 911]

George Bush says if we can spin the world faster, the oil will whizz up and stick to the moon

Then we can set it on fire and it will save on street lighting

To do this he is going to line up the USAF in the New Mexico desert and point the jet exhausts west and rev up to full throttle

[Heracles 417]

And now he has enough money to finish the Waterworld trilogy

I don't care what anyone says, I enjoyed waterworld.

[alienlovechild 75]

George Bush says if we can spin the world faster, the oil will whizz up and stick to the moon

Does anyone know why Obama did nothing about requests to build barrier islands?

Yeah, I know he made his fourth trip to the Gulf to made his really worried face.

[Heracles 417]

Does anyone know why Obama did nothing about requests to build barrier islands?

Yeah, I know he made his fourth trip to the Gulf to made his really worried face.

Is that what Drill Baby Drill repubs are going to grasp for now?

How about just admitting you are wrong for once? Admitting that allowing shareholder oriented [profit driven] corporations to do what they want can result in a disaster. Furthermore, that the unanimous consensus of scientists begging that we get off oil, were not the stupid liberals we made them out to be.

[alienlovechild 75]

Is that what Drill Baby Drill repubs are going to grasp for now?

How about just admitting you are wrong for once? Admitting that allowing shareholder oriented [profit driven] corporations to do what they want can result in a disaster. Furthermore, that the unanimous consensus of scientists begging that we get off oil, were not the stupid liberals we made them out to be.

No problemo. Obama already said BP will pay for everything. Did he become a Republican?

There wasn't any mass movement of scientists claiming this would happen. They had plenty of airtime on global warming and this wasn't brought up at the time with any regularity.

Oh course, those same scientists can't find an equally cheap, abundant and powerful fuel that can propel a ton a mile down the road or a mile in the air.

[Heracles 417]

No problemo. Obama already said BP will pay for everything. Did he become a Republican?

There wasn't any mass movement of scientists claiming this would happen. They had plenty of airtime on global warming and this wasn't brought up at the time with any regularity.

Oh course, those same scientists can't find an equally cheap, abundant and powerful fuel that can propel a ton a mile down the road or a mile in the air.

Stop driving trucks and that, as a start, will save a lot of fuel.

This is about as much Obama's fault as Katrina was GB's. This is just a classic example of profit over safety, of what happens when you let the most profitable industry in the universe [in history], do as they please. Better yet, allowing them to figure out how to drill deeper but not spend a dime researching how and what to do if something like this happens.

How's the dill baby Drill working out for Palin?

Edited June 11, 2010 by Booyah!

[Captain Oates 911]

They drill offshore in the Irish sea near Blackpool.

If Blackpool gets covered in crude oil, will anyone notice ?

Imagine half eaten fish and chips in newspaper and special brew cans and condoms covered in crude oil

It could actually be an improvement if it's deep enough

[Usui Takumi 1,562]

I don't care what anyone says, I enjoyed waterworld.

It didn't bother you that the water was miles higher then it could ever reach on earth?