Monday, May 31, 2010

OIL DISPERSION OR OIL ELIMINATION??

Bioremediation, using engineered microbes for eliminating oil spills, is completely effective and environmentally safe. This was developed in the mid 1980s, tested under the supervision of the Texas Land and Water Commissioners' offices in a controlled environment and was completely safe and effective. This method uses microbes that were developed to use oil as it's food supply. Once the oil has been ingested, oil is broken down within the microbes and the waste product is CO2 and O2. The controlled tests showed that the microbes degenerate to the same waste products once it's food supply (oil) has been exhausted. This method was used on a large scale during the Galveston, TX oil tanker spill in the late 1990(over 5 million gallons of crude oil was released when the tanker was struck by a barge) and was 100% effective. This product, a powder form containing the microbes, has been used in the industrial field since and the supply of this product is readily available. In my career in the nuclear energy industry, in which I was trained and supervised in Hazardous Material Storage and Hazardous Waste (including oil) Response along with other quals, I can justify that this works. Emails and phone calls have been submitted to the Governors of Louisiana and Mississippi, along with correspondence with the states' Hazardous Waste Response Centers (these centers are required for all states by federal law). I find it completely unusual that nothing has been in newsprint or seen during research where the states (and their Hazardous Waste Response Centers) are considering this method. The following video goes over this method: http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=8VfypUzx1tI&feature=player_embedded . The following link is a scientific journal, which like so many others if you do your own research, validate bioremediation for oil ELIMINATION (http://www.sciencedaily.com/releases/2010/05/100504142110.htm). So the question is: Do we continue to disperse (dilute) the crude oil where it will still show up underwater and eventually in sea life and on the shores? Do we continue to use booms and buoys, which have been proven to be less than 10% effective in collecting the oil ON THE WATER SURFACE and ineffective for the heavier oily material that is going UNDERWATER? Or do we use a proven method that is readily available today ro ELIMINATE THE OIL ON THE WATER SURFACE AND UNDERWATER? You decide and then demand what you choose to be used on the Gulf Coast shoreline and in the Gulf Coast.

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