Eco-Tec, a company that specializes in equipment for water purification, developed a filter fabric called Adsorb-It that can collect about 1.5 gallons of oil per square yard ("adsorb" meets collecting a substance on the surface vs. absorbing it). Adsorb-It is made from recycled fibers (primarily polyester) and, unlike the white polypropylene pads currently used in most booms, is completely reusable. Adsorb-It is best for removing smaller particles of oil from the surface of water, or "polishing the water," as Eco-Tec President Herb Pearse explained, while the company's SOS-28 fabric is most effective in removing large amounts of oil in plumes beneath the surface.
Safe Harbor is a small environmental group based in Wellfleet, Massachusetts that works to restore sustainable ecosystems. Led by Director Gordon Peabody, the group came up with a response system that reconfigures existing technologies and equipment in the Gulf to recover oil from the water. It involves anchored collection barges that would take in oil directed to the areas by booms, and would be outfitted with wind-powered oil-collection systems. The reclaimed oil would be stored for additional separation and use on shore.
Gordon Peabody
Gold Crew dispersant is water based, and breaks down oil into tiny particles that float on the surface of the water and can be eaten by bacteria. Its formula was developed more than 40 years ago and figured prominently in the cleanup of the Santa Barbara Oil Spill. "There's people trying to sell wax, and people saying get haircuts and put the hair in the water," said Ed Grubbs, president of Environmental Chemical Solutions, which produces the dispersant. "None of these people have proven technologies."
It may look and feel like paper, but it's actually a super-absorbent fibrous membrane made of potassium manganese oxide. "Our material can be left in water a month or two, and when you take it out it's still dry," said Francesco Stellacci, a Massachusetts Institute of Technology professor who led development of the nanowire paper towel. "But at the same time, if that water contains some hydrophobic contaminants, they will get absorbed." The material can absorb up to 20 times its weight and is coated so that water doesn't permeate—though oil can still be absorbed.
It's a bit counterintuitive, but doing nothing may be the best solution for the bulk of the oil in the Gulf. "What we should be doing out in the open water is letting the oil rise and use giant skimmers to clean it off the top," says Jen McClurg Roth, founder of Clean The Gulf Now, an advocacy group. "We should have been doing that from day one. That's the safest and best solution we've got." Marshes and grasslands should be cleaned using bioremediation processes, such as Aabaco's oil absorbent powder, Roth says.
Judi Bottoni / AP Photo
