One thing that surprised me when I started this blog was that you, members of the public, have ideas about how to help solve the oil spill disaster and BP doesn’t want to hear about them. We’ve now gotten five unsolicited contact forms containing suggestions for stopping or preventing damage from the spill, and one person making the suggestion appears to have a good idea but says BP won’t talk with him. I’m a lawyer, not an engineer, so it may be that none of the ideas have merit, but I’m going to post the suggestions here and send links to some people who are involved in the cleanup effort. If you have an idea you think is worth considering, use our Contact Form and send it along. Social media is already helping pinpoint the damage and provide contact information for people who see injured birds and other things that need reporting. It would be nice if social media could give one member of the public a way to contribute one brilliant idea. I’m calling it “Crowdsourcing the Oil Spill.”
Here, contact information with those who have given permission, are your suggestions. If any agency or company working to stop the gusher or cleanup the oil wants to contact any of these people, I will be happy to provide their contact information.
1. Mark Badger writes: “We have a way to contain the oil coming up from the seabed and we manufacture a boom system that far, far exceeds anything you have ever seen. 600 miles of it can be produced and deployed in under 30 days with current available materials.
Our boom sits a full three feet at water level and extends 8 feet under water and can be used as a containment system for animals as well in shallow waters like the Florida Keys. What are you going to do when dead manatees start washing up?
Our containment system for the well can be manufactured and deployed for complete containment in about 21 days. It is very simple to build, it will work in heavy seas, very simple to deploy and maintain. This system would allow the capture of ALL of the oil coming out of the well. It will even work in 50 foot seas and will withstand a hurricane.
We have tried to move our ideas forward to BP but we get no return calls or contact.
I can be called at 954-591-4298.”
2. Ed M. writes: “Why not run tubing string inside recovery casing and inject steam. Haven’t done math but should be able to get effect of line heater.”
3. Larry S. writes: “A suggestion to consider for preventing ice crystals.
1. Raise the dome.
2. Place a puncturable membrane on the bottom. (8 mil Visqueen)
3. Lower the dome 90 percent in the water.
4. Fill with automotive antifreeze.
5. Lower the dome back into position.
Hopefully, the majority of the antifreeze would remain in the dome during the descent.”
4. Clive W. writes: “Isn’t it possible to use tankers equipped with oil /water separators to literally vacuum up oil on the surface of the water, extract the oil and pump filtered water back into the ocean ? The oil would then be stored in the hold and taken back to storage containers on land. The technology to do this already exists it’s just a matter of putting it all together.
It just might work as a temporary solution.
Just trying to help.”
5. David C. writes: “Directors at British Petroleum , Honorable,Prudent,Beloved,Faithful. I have been a metal worker for many years. I have an idea to stop the oil but if you use it the idea you pay for my dentist bill 100% what ever I need. So my idea is to drill small holes, horizontal holes, in the existing well head pipe say, 1/4″ or3/8″. Then push steel rods into the holes like fingers. Keep on inserting the rods until you create a grid. Maybe you will have to go up and down the pipe with a series of rods. Then go about six feet down from the grid drill another hole big enough to inject golf balls. After that is done drill a hole in the middle of this mess of semi-jammed golf balls and inject a plastic epoxy into the middle under high pressure then the pipe would jam. Like some one in England once said, “jam yesterday, jam tomorrow but never jam today”. Good luck God be with you. Your friend David C….”
Do you have a brilliant idea to stop the leak or prevent damage to the ecosystem? Would you like for BP to pay your dentist bill (thanks to David C. for that idea)? Send your idea to us and, if it appears halfway reasonable, we’ll pass it along to someone with some authority.
Tagged as:
antifreeze,
booms,
BP,
containment system,
Crowdsourcing the Oil Spill,
Deepwater Horizon,
dome,
Gulf of Mexico,
oil spill,
technology
