Actor Kevin Costner promotes oil clean up tech on Hill
His company, Ocean Therapy Solutions, has partnered with BP to deploy the machine, but funding and regulatory obstacles have prevented Costner from supplying the device to government, he says.
"This system . . . has proved time and time again to work," Kevin Costner told a House panel.
House Democrats and Republicans on Wednesday took a serious interest in a technology that BP currently is testing to separate oil from water in the Gulf Coast, but the owner of the technology, actor and director Kevin Costner, told lawmakers federal funding and regulatory constraints have prevented him from supplying the device to the government.
Costner, who bought a patent for the oil-water separator from the Energy Department 17 years ago, said the centrifuge technology is the most effective tool that nobody has ever heard of for cleaning up oil spills. Ocean Therapy Solutions, a company he co-founded, now is partnering with BP to deploy the machine, known as CINC, in the Gulf.
The tool doesn't use chemical or biologic agents to clean up oil. Many environmentalists and government officials are concerned about the consequences of burning the slick or releasing dispersants to break it up.
CINC relies on situational awareness to adapt the machinery to the distinct characteristics of each water body where it is inserted, Costner told lawmakers at a hearing convened by the House Science and Technology Subcommittee on Energy and Environment. Aerospace Corp., which is aiding the effort, is exploring options for using information technology systems to gain better knowledge about the surrounding Gulf waters.
"This system model for liquid separation by centrifugal force has proved time and time again to work with diverse elements and under stressed circumstances," Costner testified. "If CINC is deployed in the Gulf it will surely encounter new mixtures, emulsifications and viscosities, which will require engineering attention and fine-tuning. These challenges can and will be met. Aerospace is also evaluating satellite and airborne sensor data and ground truth data" -- information that is collected on location -- "to help improve situational awareness to aid in the most efficient placement of CINC machines in the Gulf."
Politicians held the hearing to examine shortcomings in the nation's research and development efforts for cleaning up oil spills. Lawmakers said the aftermath of the BP oil spill highlights the need for better technology to recover harmful substances -- and possibly new legislation.
Existing law designed to provide funding and other resources necessary to recover oil has failed to generate enough money for oil pollution technology programs, according to the subcommittee. The statute, called the 1990 Oil Pollution Act, was enacted mainly in response to the 1989 Exxon Valdez oil spill.
Repeated phone calls and letters to government agencies discussing the technology went unanswered, Costner said. He and his colleagues also hosted numerous successful demonstrations before officials from the Environmental Protection Agency, Coast Guard, Interior Department, National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration, and the Navy, but received no follow-up responses, he said.
Costner was not able to obtain the necessary certifications that would permit the government to use the device. "If legislated as a safety standard, CINC machines would be like fire extinguishers for the oil industry, to be kept close at hand wherever oil and water have the opportunity to come into contact," he said. "In putting CINC to work, we have a situation where regulation can be very good for business -- putting rig safety operators back to work, in a safer environment, with American made machines."
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