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Thursday's House hearing at which BP CEO Tony Hayward testified was not the only spill-related action on Capitol Hill with star power.
Actor Kevin Costner told the Senate Small Business and Entrepreneurship Committee that BP has discovered his oil separating machine actually works and has ordered 32 of them to battle the spill.
"I feel vindicated. Perhaps I will call my mother," he said.
A company founded by Costner, Ocean Therapy Solutions, produces the machines, which use centrifugal force to separate oil from the water. The company says the biggest versions can clean 200 gallons a minute and extract 2,000 barrels of oil per day.
Costner reportedly spent $20 million of his own money to develop the separators.
Committee Chairwoman Sen. Mary Landrieu, D-La., praised Costner, telling him that he "plays a hero on screen and in real life."
— Mike Brunker
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Still, no excuse for Water World.
thank you Kevin for doing all you can to help us here on the gulf. your dedication, generosity, and selflessness is greatly appreciated by this pensacola mom.....
can't wait til your machines get here....run.....
Kevin give us "small people" more hope than the leadership exhibited by the ("big people") BP.
And your point is. . . ?
"Dances with Oil Spills?" Huzzah!!!
If they order 32 of the machines that can clean 200 gals a minute that makes 12k gals hrly= 288k daily x 32 = 9.2 million gals daily. Wow, that means they can clean the coast of La from the shoreline out to 100 feet in 3245 years. I'm underwhelmed.
moron
Seems as if that is about 217,000 barrels per day. Don't understand why you don't think that's a good idea. Should they do nothing then?
And what idea did you suggest for the clean up?
It would seem that the complete Moron Jed is in a special league along with Tony all by themselves. I would love to help educate both of them.
People, people, don't be fooled by all the star power. Please. The problem isn't separating the oil and the water - there is equipment all over the place to do that. The problem is collecting all of the oil/water over such large spaces. Co'mon!
Further, the real problem is getting this well stopped. I am no BP fan, but certainly there isn't anyone in the government who can come close to solving that without BP's help.
I do like the way you think -- to a point. Like all the other BP plans recently hatched to help the situation, I don't believe I would rush out to buy several hundred of anything before I gave it some real-world workout. But we do have to try something. Any word on the cap the guy from MN invented? That looked promising to stop the spill.
Whistling in the dark helps control the uncomfortable feelings of powerlessness, but still does nothing to make the dark go away. The math is the math, I just posted it.
This technology was developed 20 years ago at the Dept of Energy's Idaho National Laboratory and was available to anyone who bought the rights. Ocean Therapy Solutions bought the rights to the patent. Give credit where credit is due.
The whole point being "Biker - 1901806" is that Costner "DID" something with it...the technology was designed in nuclear research, NOT OIL CLEAN UP and dispersal! So give credit where credit is due! Costner spent 20 million dollars in design and research and stepped forward when the plea was made for help and ideas...
and just like "Jed 233"....you guys wouldn't be impressed by a Super Nova...and most likely neither of you vote, so you lost your right to be heard when you chose to NOT be a helpful influence for our Nation...probably Republicans if you DO register...so the same point sticks
so go join the crowd of complainers and negative voices out there that do NOTHING and whine!
We, THE PEOPLE...don't need your help! Making negative statements about what we already know to be a fact that the design originated where it did, and trying to take credit away from Costner? You sound like a Tea Party'r..with nothing but an unhelpful tongue and charade of intent...
RI-I-I-I-GHT, jed233. They should just sit around with their thumbs up their rear ends and do nothing.
cynic-1898974, guess you missed the part of the story that says BP ordered 32 of the machines, not "hundreds." But, as my late Father used to say (though he said it jokingly. I think.) "My mind's made UP! Don't confuse me with the FACTS!!!"
Better get more machines and get moving!
If they spill it, he will come....
If they spill it, he will come....
Bravo Kevin Costner!!! Those of you who are criticizing him, I just have to ask you, what have you done to clean up the oil spill?
I wasn't criticizing him, I think it's great that someone from Hollywood is actually doing something instead of just running at the mouth. Cudos to Kevin and his company and I wish them great success. I am concerned about the success though. I heard that becaus the dispersants were used, the specific gravity of the oil has changed, rendering the centrifuge less effective. Hopefully Kevin and company can make modifications and be more effective.
It Kudos. K.
Shoeless -- think, think, think! It might hurt for a minute, but then you will get used to it! And, as for Hollywood, the unfortunate truth is that more humanitarian help and money comes from those folks than from any other single sector -- check your facts!
Shannie, thank you for the correction. You are absolutely correct.
scarey.....you so put me in my place. Where can I check these facts?
ShoelessJoe, first of all, let me salute you for accepting the criticism with such grace and simple dignity. If we all did that, these discussion threads would be far more pleasant than a great many [as in "practically all of them"] of them are.
Like you, I don't know where to fact-check this stuff, and depend on the media, these threads, etc. for information. I do believe it's pretty much beyond any rationale debate that a fair number of Hollywood stars do indeed give generously of their time AND money to help out in various causes, such as the iconic "We Are the World" multi-star concert a long time ago. And it's not just stars. Warren Buffett, for instance, announced some time back he's going to give away 99% of his fortune before and after his passing -- and he more recently called on America's billionaires to pledge to donate 50% of their fortunes to worthy causes of their choice. (By the way, I nearly fell out of my chair when I read that America has over 400 billionaires. Four hundred!) Sure, maybe that means they have "only" a few tens or hundreds of million and loose change left for themselves, but I say, "So what???"
Kevin Costner has always struck me as being a solid, decent man as an individual, so I wasn't really surprised when he stepped forward, except that I had no idea he was involved in a company that had anything to do with a situation like this. I saw a video of him talking with a reporter about it, and I think he said -- the audio quality was very poor -- that he was offering the machines and related services at cost -- i.e., for no profit. And before some cynic jumps in and demands to know, "But won't he just get it all back and more by taking a tax write-off???" no, he can't get more than it cost him, so my comeback, again, is "So WHAT???" Besides, sometimes these folks really mean it and don't take tax write-offs for their philanthropy -- anonymous donors, for instance, sometimes don't (though I think they can) to make sure no one ever learns where the money came from.
Mr. Costner, thank you for stepping forward.
Stop all the idle conversation. Take action as Kevin Costner has done. If more people made contributions towards clean up as he has less damage would occur to the ocean and beaches. Every contribution matters no matter how large or small it is. It adds up. Actions speak louder than words. Kevin As it was once stated "Ask not what your country can do for you" Ask what you can do for your country" Kevin Costner is doing it. Are You???
jed, I don't get your final calculation. I assume that the machines will clean where the oil can be seen first and there will be more than 32 if they prove effective. By my calculations, the machines could extract 64,000 gals of oil per day which is the top estimate of the amount of oil being spilled daily. So after the well is capped, we could possibly clean most of the oil from the water in less than 6 months. Using what we have now will NOT get rid of the oil from the spill in the next 25 years (Prince William Sound still has oil under the water and the fishing has not returned). Even if Costner's machines take 10 years to clean all of the oil from the Gulf, we're still way ahead and the environment will not be as devastated as it would be otherwise. I think it's a good idea and a lot better than booms and people with shovels.
Thank you to all the people here who see that the glass is half full. It is nice to read comments that aren't written by neanderthals who still live in their mother's basements.
thanks for cleaning up his math, I couldn't agree more. also...you know (jed), they can actually make more machines ...
Jed can't help it, his "party" can't do anything but say NO.
Still gonna require booms and people with shovels. But Kostner is one of the few people who put his money where his mouth is.
Costner's sequel to the The Bodyguard... The Separator!
It's worth a try; anything is worth a try. Don't knock it 'til you've tried it.
My question is-----------why is Kevin Costner just trying to sell his invention? Why didn't he try to sell it after he came up with it? This seems like added conspiracy!!!!!!!!!!!
How do you know that he didn't try to sell it before? He probably did. They just weren't buying it before.
Oh, good lord, Maryann -- are you actually serious!? Your deduction skills are so not there! Just sit quietly and DON'T SHARE!!
Inference skills would help here. First of all his company makes the machines, so I am sure the machines are intended to be used by his company. Secondly, he says he feels vindicated, indicating that BP must not have seriously considered his machines until now. Cosner sunk $20 million of his own money into their development, no doubt because cleaning oil spills can be lucrative. Now if only Nigeria would use them to clean up their oil mess.
Costner did present his idea and invention to major oil companies some time ago but was told they didn't need it as their drilling technologies were safe and sound. With this spill, now it's a different story which is why he feels vindicated.
Kevin Costner has never been my favorite actor. But now he's my new John Wayne.
One month before the spill, I had a DREAM about K.C. in which he was on the move to get something done and he played the part of a pilot in this dream. I didn't actually know who he was except I saw his face, talked with him, and about a week later, I identified him from a film clip. I just think it strange that I had a dream about him being ON THE MOVE to fix something of world proportions.
Now, I pray for him most every day that his dream of separators is working and he IS doing something of world proportions to help mankind. I am not naive, Kevin, to believe that you're doing this just for the money. I'm married to a man who for 30 years worked on Filter Separators, designing them, manufacturing them and he never drew more than just his salary. To people who care, money can never take the part of satisfaction when you've designed something that works. That is akin to the pride that the design and manufacturer of the wheel must have felt!!
You go, Kevin. From now on I will be watching and reading about your life on the screen and off.
Yes, the 1934 in my email address denotes something special for me too--I am 76 today!!!
Happy Birthday to you JJ!
From Canada here. I hope for all of our sakes that this works as it is heartbreaking to see "oil greed" doing so much damage to EVERYTHING.
p.s. Kevin, make a bigger one, oil spills are seldom small.
Maryann -- he has said repeatedly he has been trying to sell this for YEARS. After all, he would be an idiot to plunk down $20 million, especially of his OWN money, then let the thing sit on the shelf gathering dust. You can do a little research quite easily.
go getem K.C.
What's this world coming to when a movie actor is the one with the answer? Kudos to him for giving a damn and doing something about it. I hope his machines live up to expectations.
Jim
Actors are just that - Actors and that is their work - But they are also Men and Women with minds and concerns about the same things as the rest of us. I think it very admirable that K.C. has developed this unit.
I second the motion.
In order to clean up effectively, many different processes are necessary. Bravo to Kevin Costner for coming up with one. Oil eating bacteria are a way to remove oil from the marshes as large machinery would damage the delicate ecosystems even more. This will take a lot of work and good ideas. You people that have nothing better to do than criticize, please crawl back under your rocks and shut up. You are doing no good.
Curly
I fail to recall the name of the product, But I know that there is a product that you are describing that has been used on Oil on land spills, after it has been applied and done its work, it is then ploughed back into the soil. I will try and find the name of the product - seems to me tha it should work in the application that you describe.
WTF Maryann? Right up until the moment that rig exploded no one, not BP, not the oil industry, not the federal regulators, not the public... No one would admit there might be a need for anything to help clean up a mess like this. They all said they already had it under control.
This is why our country is so f**ked up right now. Rational conversations that lead to real world solutions cannot be carried on any more.
go getem K.CC
All of you are morons.
200 gallons = 4.76 barrels
4.76 barrels x 60 x 24 = 6854 barrels
Try reading the actual words next time.
Frankly I don't understand how the writer of this article came up with only 2000 barrels unless of course these machines have the same work habits as government employees.
:)
Reading the words is one matter, but understanding them is quite another.
The article states the machines can "clean 200 gallons a minute" - meaning they can take in 4.76 barrels/minute of the oil/water mix. They can "extract 2,000 barrels of oil per day" meaning they can spit out 2,000 barrels of oil, and an additional 4,854 barrels (by your calculations) of water & whatever else is in there - that is where the author came up with their "only 2000 barrels" figure.
By the figures in this story, the machine takes in and "cleans" 6,854 barrels of total liquid per day (if it were to run 24 hours continuously at the given 200 gallons/minute rate) and it will extract 2,000 barrels of oil from that 6,854 barrels of intake.
You might want to consider not putting a smiley at the end of your posts.
You are partially right. Read the words again. Each machine can process 200 gallons a minute, it doesn't say it can collect 200 gallons of oil a minute. It says it can recover 2000 barrels of oil a day.
toughlove, though I found your comment way stronger than it needs to be, when I got to the last paragraph my eyes opened wide, I sat back, and then I laughed right out loud! Maybe it's a bit hard on federal employees, BUT . . .
;-)
Here is the basic description from their website -
Model V20 Centrifuge
The V20 CIP centrifuge has a 20" (50.8 cm) diameter rotor and features Integrated Clean-In-Place.
It has a throughput of up to 200 GPM and has bearings on both the top and bottom of the rotor.
*******************************************************************************
Centrifugal technology is pretty common and well understood as a separation method. The trick is likely to be preventing fouling and clogging, which is why the CIP may be important if these things are going to have much of a chance of functioning at the rated flows (I assume they also have some level of screening at the inlet). I doubt this will be a panacea, but it may be helpful to remove some oil that has intruded into shallow coastal areas and (hopefully) capturing the oil contained around booms at the surface or in other high concentration areas. There really is no way any sort of "machine" is going to treat the vast bulk of the gulf waters - I tend to agree with Jed there. But this may be one more tool to accelerate the clean-up.
My ball cap is off to Kevin. Good work. I wonder if the effectiveness of the device could have been improved if the oil companies were required to pool their funds for the research they should have been doing since the Ixtoc spill?
Talk about a win-win-win. BP can regain the oil they lost, paying for the cost of the machines tenfold. Costner makes a BUTTLOAD of money, (I understand it's actually his brother who developed it), and we get some of the oil out of the water. If this works there's no losers.
I think every out of work fisherman who has a boat big enough to carry one of the separation machines should get one and go "fishing" for oil...Make BP pay for the equipment and pay a premium for the recovered oil and these guys will be back at work...cleaning up the ocean and not sitting around waiting for compensation...they are an adaptable group of individuals...and they want to work...
I like this practical idea, first one I've heard. It's Brilliant! It provides work to people who love the Gulf and want to get back to their old work as soon as possible. In the meantime BP pays for the machines and basically hires people to clean up their spill, then they buy back their oil. Kudos Swampmama. LOVE IT!!!!
Hey, SwampMama, I'm with Atok on this. A huge salute to you, Ma'am! Wonder if Mr. Costner can supply more of these machines, and if so, how many, or if not, at least not immediately, how long it might take him to fire up the production line to Warp Factor 9 to cranks the things out as fast as possible? Don't know, but my hat's off to him, too.
Have you thought about trying to contact BP with this idea? It sure would be the marriage of two great ideas for any fisherman whose boat is big enough to handle one of these machines.
Maybe it can be scaled up... but the point is... "it works"....