A couple of good ol' boys figure out how to soak up the oil

[sylvi]

Don't know how well it would work large-scale, but it might be worth a try.


http://www.liveleak.com/view?i=c91_1276186437

[Speck Tater]

1. That might work for surface oil, but most of the oil in suspended in an emulsion

and is deep under water where the hay can't reach it, and wouldn't do any good if it could.

[Schema Thing]

2. or not.

[Webster Green]

3. That's been posted here quite a few times.

So many that I don't even need to follow the link to know it's the dudes with the hay.

There's all kinds of things that will effectively soak up oil. Mushrooms, furnace filter kind of material, hay and straw, and probably lots of others. The hair idea didn't work because it soaks up too much water.

Huge piles of oil-soaked whatever aren't really the most efficient way to deal with this massive amount of oil.

The best idea I've heard of is the large skimmer/separators that suck up oil and seawater and throw the 95% cleaned water back into the gulf.

The biggest problem is the toxic dispersant has caused much of the oil to sink. Idiots!

[sylvi]

4. Obviously this couldn't be relied upon as the sole solution

A multi-pronged attack would be needed. This might be useful in shallower waters where the skimming vessels might not be able to operate.

[Webster Green]

6. I wondered how it might do in the marshlands.

But, from what I have read, it's better to stay out of the marshes and let them heal over time. The activity ruins them. Sad, but true.

[monmouth]

5. BP has purchased Costner's machine fwiw....n/t