UPDATED (see last paragraph and new link) – A reader named Bart wrote and said BP should consider using a proven method utilizing ground bagasse (a byproduct of sugar production from cane) infiltrated with ammonia to broadcast over sensitive wildlife areas where oil is washing ashore. According to Bart, the bagasse preferentially absorbs the oil and within a matter of weeks the hydrocarbons, with the aid of natural microbes and the nitrogen source, break down, eliminating the problem. Bart says it seems as though BP should welcome solutions such as this one. Bart tells us that CNN broadcast it on the news today, and says BP appears to be ignoring attempts to alert them to this additional remediation method. Finally, Bart said BP should be reminded by everyone possible to employ all available methodologies.
Thanks Bart. As I’ve said before, I’m a lawyer and don’t know enough about oil spill remediation to know a good idea when I see one. But we have readers who do know the subject matter. If anyone else has an idea that’s not being used, please send it along to us.
UPDATE: Bart sent us an email with an article discussing the use of bagasse to clean up oil. Here’s Bart’s email:
“Check this article describing the usefulness of bagasse (not to mention the huge quantities produced as a byproduct of sugar production) in clinging to oil while repelling water (hydrophobic quality). A CNN spot was even a further modification of the bagasse- it had ammonium and microbial agents also embedded in it to speed up the conversion to small-chain hydrocarbons and eventually organic mulch, just what we will need in the sensitive ecotypes of coastal Louisiana and Mississippi.
{ 4 comments }
Don’t you feel like just another part of this comedy of errors. How can a lawyer be sending feedback about oil spill clean-up,as you admitted, you don’t know enough to realize a brilliant idea, when it’s posted right to you. Get your scientists, and the government’s scientists,chemists,and marine biologists directly involved in recruiting and investigating any solution posed to any BP site or personell.Put a call out to the entire world to forward every strand of human and animal hair removed during the grooming process, in bulk to the clean up sight . Did you know hair in a mesh sack is a natural oil absorbent material. Use machines like the mobile BuildABear trucks to pump the hair into large nylon tubes,which a pantyhose manufacturer could supply quickly. Make tubes running along the marshlands. Make the Government get the DNR involved in setting these tubes in place. If you are supplying the tubes the least they could do is place them in critical areas. You need help, this problem has gotten too big. It’s everyone’s responsibility to help, because the oil was supposed to be used by everyone. START YELLING FOR HELP! THIS IS EVERYONE”S PROBLEM NOW<WE ALL WANTED THE OIL ,SO NOW WE SHOULD SHARE THE TOIL.
julia,
I do what I can, and I hope everyone will do what they can. At my age, I don’t have a lot of hair to contribute.
Also, I’ve posted on Twitter, and now here, that people should post suggestions both here and submit them to the official Deepwater Horizon response website. One reason I want them posted here is to make them public so they can begin a discussion of the merits of the suggestions. If a suggestion is merely submitted to the official site, we never know what becomes of it. And the original suggestion may not have been quite right, but it might spark an idea for a really great modification of the original idea. I really believe in the wisdom of crowds, as described in a book by Jeff Howe entitled “Crowdsourcing: Why the Power of the Crowd Is Driving the Future of Business.” And one of the great lessons of that book is that the main thing needed is merely an open posting of a problem on the Internet to enable people worldwide to try to engage in problem solving. It’s not necessary for the person hosting the discussion (me) to know anything about the problem; the only thing necessary is to create a means for people to engage in problem-solving.
Mike
This is a proven method of remediation as natural biological processes convert crude to protein that is edible by marine life. Search the web http://www.gatorinternational.com/oilabsorbents.htm – It is amazing what people discount and overlook.
I would like to refer you to Dr. Gary Breitenbeck, a soil microbiology and environmental researcher in the agronomy department of the LSU Ag Center’s article in Science Blog circa 1998 regarding the use of bagasse for oil spill clean up. http://www.scienceblog.com/community/older/1998/B/199801591.html. As of June 30, when asked about the use of bagasse as an alternative to the toxin COREXIT, Dr. Breitenbeck said, “We are attempting to use a variation of this approach in the marsh, but have encountered heavy opposition from the regulatory agencies. We may possibly conduct a pilot in the next few days.”