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J'can family sends BP 'brilliant' fix for oil spill
BY KIMONE THOMPSON Features Editor- Sunday [email protected]
Sunday, June 20, 2010
A Jamaican family living in the United States think they have figured out a way to stop the oil leaking into the Gulf of Mexico.
Errold Webb and two of his children, 11-year-old Nathan and 10-year-old Imani, propose that the blown out well can be effectively plugged using the principle of buoyancy, and it took them only two hours, doing what they described as a "fun summer project", to construct a model demonstrating their idea.
Errold Webb and his two eldest children Nathan and Imani. (Photo: Nadine Webb)
Errold Webb and his two eldest children Nathan and Imani. (Photo: Nadine Webb) 1/1
"We came up with what we think is a brilliant idea," Webb told the Sunday Observer from his home in Atlanta.
On the urging of his wife Nadine, daddy Webb and his two eldest children used a fish tank they had at home, and inexpensive parts sourced from the Dollar store, to build the model.
In a video they posted on public video-sharing website YouTube, the children explained the procedure.
"By using a buoyancy plug we are able to supply sufficient force to plug the leak. The downward force is created by using air filled buoyant containers below the surface of the water connected with a cord which goes around pulleys anchored to the ocean floor which are then connected to the plug.
"Both containers are the same size and an equal distance away from each other, creating equal force and stability," Nathan said in the three-minute video.
"In our experiment, the plug we used was the tip of a mechanical pencil and we sealed the hole with wax," Imani added, speaking from a script she and her brother worked on with both their parents.
The video was also featured on CNN iReport and on Fox News 5 Atlanta.
Two months ago today, an explosion on the Deepwater Horizon rig caused a deep sea well being drilled by British firm BP LLC, to rupture. Eleven crew members were killed in the ensuing fire and 17 others were injured.
Since then, the blown out well has been spewing between 35,000 and 60,000 barrels of crude into the Gulf per day according to White House estimates. US officials have said the disaster, which is a major threat to marine life, tourism and fishing in the Gulf states, is more devastating than the 1989 incident in which an oil tanker owned by Exxon Valdez ran aground on Prince William Sound in Alaska and spilled over 10 million gallons of oil.
BP, which leased the rig from Transocean Ltd, is drilling a relief well which it says will stop the leak completely. It should be complete later this summer, but in the meantime, the firm has been collecting in some instances and burning in others, some of the substance slicked across the ocean's surface.
Information posted on the White House's website on June 15 stated that "approximately 21.2 million gallons of an oil-water mix have been recovered" and that "more than 210 controlled burns have been conducted, efficiently removing a total of more than 5.2 million gallons of oil from the open water in an effort to protect shoreline and wildlife".
But according to the Webbs, the firm's entire approach is wrong.
"They are attacking the problem the wrong way. You can't attack it from above because the supply of pressure is not enough on the surface of the ocean. The only way to create that force is through buoyancy... It's common sense," said Webb, a trained electrical engineer who once worked with a gas company. "They need to create the force from below the ocean with inverse buoyancy. It's not new technology. They are using it right now; it is technology that is being used to lift sunken ships.
There are tens of other videos on the internet proposing solutions to plugging the BP leak and cleaning up the waters of the Gulf. The suggestions include using balloon angioplasty to stop the flow, sprinkling the globs of oil with a renewable biomass product that makes them easily removable, and using a machine built by actor Kevin Costner to separate the oil from the water. But Webb thinks his idea is the best.
"I feel strongly that this is the best solution because what (BP) has done so far is not working because the oil is still spilling into the ocean. Unless they are able to completely stop the oil coming into the Gulf, it is a failure.
"Most drilling rigs are built on cylinders which are acting as buoyant containers to anchor the rigs so if they can create anchors to drill for oil, they can build buoyancy plugs," said Webb.
Asked how, if the solution were simple as that, could it be eluding the BP team, Mrs Webb quoted from the Bible.
"The Bible says the foolish or the simple things of the world will confound the wise," she told the Sunday Observer.
"I came home tired from work one night and they were watching the news of the spill and I just told them they needed to come up with a solution. The kids were bored so I told them to use the time to come up with a solution for the spill. I told them they were sitting on so much creative ability.
"They are brilliant. My husband's a genius, he always has good ideas," she added.
And though the children are only elementary school students, they understand the gravity of the situation.
"The animals in the ocean are just dying right now so we just had to do something," said little Imani.
The Webbs have sent copies of their proposal to BP and to the White House. The oil giant said it would review the recommendation and contact them at a later date.
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