Tag: BP

Most of us are sick and tired of actors and celebrities using their fame to try to change the world, but keeping their money in off shore tax havens. I’m looking at you, Bono.

And now, a man renowned for a role in a terrible movie set on the ocean is making a move to save the ocean from a terrible fate. It’s such a compelling story it can only come out of Hollywood. Costner’s shot at redemption comes after he sunk more than $20 million of his own money into researching and developing an oil skimming device. The device is called “Ocean Therapy” and BP are so desperate to try anything that they’re lapping up this machine that laps up oil, in large volumes. The full story is here.

Placed on a barge, it sucks in large quantities of polluted water, separates out the oil and spits back 97% clean water.

“It’s like a big vacuum cleaner,” said Costner’s business partner, Louisiana trial lawyer John Houghtaling.

“The machines are basically sophisticated centrifuge devices that can handle a huge volume of water,” he said.

Costner has spent $40 million of his own money in the last decade trying to develop new technologies – which I think is really cool. He’s putting his money where his mouth is, and he’s so sure these things work that he’s built a mini army of them. Perhaps he wants to start his own ocean utopia…

At least 210,000 gallons of oil per day is gushing into the sea from the ocean floor where the BP rig exploded April 20. The oil company has tried several novel solutions, but none has worked so far to plug the leak.

The company is skimming the oil, spraying it with dispersant chemicals underwater and trying to burn it on the surface.

Nineteen percent of the Gulf’s lucrative fisheries are closed, billions of beach tourist dollars are at stake and dozens of seagoing species are threatened.

Costner has 300 of his Ocean Therapy machines in various sizes. The largest, at 21/2 tons, is able to clean water at a rate of 200 gallons a minute – faster than the well is leaking.