[StBernard] Costner to supply 32 machines to cleanup effort

[Westley Annis]

Costner to supply 32 machines to cleanup effort 

by Paul Murphy / Eyewitness News

wwltv.com

Posted on June 18, 2010 at 9:07 PM

Updated yesterday at 9:08 PM 


Actor and entrepreneur Kevin Costner says he came to the Gulf Coast to take
part in the oil spill response and Friday he got the news that he would be
able to do just that as it was announced that 32 of his machines to separate
oil from water were being readied to help battle the oil gushing into the
Gulf.

It took the nation's worst environmental disaster for the oil industry to
give Costner's centrifuge machine a chance.

"There's not a word big enough or ugly enough to describe what is going on
out there," said Costner at a press briefing.

Costner has spent the past 17 years and several million dollars of his own
money helping to develop the machine that can act as a first responder for
oil spills. The machine was developed by a team, including his brother, who
is a scientist.

Costner was in Port Fourchon Friday to get one last look at his machine
before it joins the massive effort to clean up and slow down the spill.

Costner's company, Ocean Therapy Solutions, claims each machine can clean up
to 200 gallons of oily water per minute.

Harry Lancios, an operator for the machines, showed off two bottles that
contained a before and after sample of the liquid.

"You can see the sample is virtually oil free," he said of the 'after'
model. "The unit is operating very efficiently now."

The first three devices are set to work near BP's wrecked well head, 50
miles off Louisiana's coast.

Another separator was operated on a smaller boat to work in shallower water.
Operators say the only drawback is that the device doesn't work well with
the really thick oil that is now popping up around Barataria Bay.

BP's Doug Suttles said the machines did work well enough during a trial for
the company to order 32 of them.

"We put the equipment to hard work," he said. "We tested it in some of the
harshest environments we could find and actually what it has done is quite
robust."

Even though it seems like a Hollywood-type story, Costner said he didn't fly
down to the Gulf to save the day.

"I know that got said and I kind of appreciate it, I guess my mom would
too," he said. "But I have come to participate."

Suttles says this endeavor is an example of how BP took an idea, tested it
and decided to put it to work in the Gulf.

He admits the company has yet to figure out how to sift through the more
than 100,000 cleanup ideas submitted so far.

"The criteria they're looking for is that they have to make a material
difference, we have to be able to put them to work quickly and they have to
be able to scale fast," he said, citing Costner's machine as a good example.

BP hopes to deploy 32 of the devices over the next few days.