In the wake of the April explosion on the offshore oil rig, Deepwater Horizon, thousands of barrels of crude oil have been gushing to the surface of the Gulf of Mexico each day. Estimates vary, however, on just how large the leak is. British Petroleum (BP), the company that leased the rig, estimates at least 5,000 barrels a day are issuing from the bottom of the Gulf, while independent scientists believe the daily flow could range between 25,000 and 100,000 barrels (1.05 million gallons to 4.2 million gallons).
Tony Hayward, Chief Executive of BP said that it could be weeks or months before the spill is brought under control, and that the company could spend $10 million a day on clean-up efforts. To prevent the oil slick from reaching shore, BP has been using a dispersant called Corexit, a chemical that breaks oil slicks into smaller particles that can are either consumed by bacteria or sink into the water.
Corexit, however, has its detractors. Toxicologist Dr. William Sawyer noted that Corexit, aka deodorized kerosene, presents health risks not only to humans, but also sea turtles, dolphins, birds, and any other species that need to surface for air.
Meanwhile, a more effective and safer dispersant called Dispersit is available, but is not being used despite being approved by the EPA for just this purpose some 10 years ago. While it’s not clear why BP prefers Corexit over Dispersit, there are those that speculate that Corexit makes up most of the dispersant stockpiles in the U.S., partly because the government had used it before. Therefore, because it’s readily available, it’s being used to clean up the oil spill in the Gulf.
This frustrates Connie Mixon, CEO of MyCelx Technologies. When we spoke to Connie last week, she noted that the technology used for spill response is in the Stone Age. She added that MyCelx has tried for years to educate the oil industry about its product. Most recently, it sent its hydrocarbon-absorbing polymer filter to help clean oil spills in the Gulf following Hurricane Katrina. It’s still unclear whether or not it had been used at that time.
Unfortunately, this appears to be a common theme, as many companies we have spoken to start off developing a technology to help clean oil spills only to move on to the more lucrative business of removing oil from process and wastewater. Examples include MyCelx, AbTech Industries, and Gradek Energy.
On an interesting side note: Deepwater Horizon’s response website provides a phone number and application form for anyone who wants to propose alternative response technologies. Who knows? Maybe BP and others will listen.
