Actor Kevin Costner asked lawmakers and BP (NYSE:BP) to give his oil cleanup machines a try, a venture inspired from images viewed by Costner when the Exxon Valdez oil spill occurred in Alaska.
Costner has invested $20 million of his own money into the project, starting a company named Costner Industries, which worked with Ocean Therapy Solutions who developed the machines.
Initial tests failed when BP viewed the machines, but that was evidently from the thickness of the oil which changed from the dispersants used on it.
After the devices were adapted to be used with a thicker consistency, they worked as they were supposed, resulting in BP ordering 32 of the machines from Costner.
"We were confident the technology would work but we needed to test it at the extremes. We've done that and are excited by the results," said Doug Suttles, BP's chief operating officer. "We are very pleased with the results and today we have placed a significant order with OTS [Costner's Ocean Therapy Solutions] and will be working with them to rapidly manufacture and deploy 32 of their machines."
The largest of the devices can clean water at 200 gallons of oil a minute, and for the day it can capture 2,000 barrels of oil.
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