Actor Kevin Costner's Centrifuge Device to Be Tested in Oil Spill Clean-up
Laila Morcos - laila@abc26.com ABC26 News

May 18, 2010
ST. BERNARD PARISH—
In St. Bernard Parish, fishing locations change daily. But there may soon be help, thanks to Kevin Costner and a group of local investors.

Deckhand Robbie Graf never thought he would be laying boom in the gulf. He hasn't seen much oil. It's what he's not seeing that's concerning. "I'm more afraid of the stuff they put on the oil because it sank a lot of the oil," he says.

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"That's where our real concern is. That we're going to start to see oil show up that's past booms because it's below the surface," says St. Bernard Parish President Kevin Taffaro.

Where fishermen can and can't work changes daily. But now at least, they have some hope that chemical dispersants won't be ruining their livelihood. BP has agreed to test a centrifuge device that separates oil from water in different areas of the gulf.

"I expect them to be out cleaning up the gulf in a week from now," says Ocean Therapy Solutions CEO. Houghtaling partnered with other investors and actor Kevin Costner to roll out the centrifuges. The largest can clean more than 200,000 gallons of oiled water daily.

"If this can pull water and oil that's below the surface, that's even better news," says Taffaro.

People like Robbie are happy to work. But they're hoping this technology will allow them to go back to doing what they loved most.

The machines will be taken out on barges to begin clean up testing.