An invention by a 61-year-old supertanker captain is really working in the cleanup efforts of the Gulf oil catastrophe. A story in the Los Angeles Times today, tells how Gerry Matherne bought PVC pipe and window screens at the hardware store, and then set to work to design a device that would remove oil from the Gulf.
BP likes what he came up with, and the article says they want 100 units at work by the end of July. The oil collector is described as being like a large trash bag in a frame. The bag is actually made out of the mesh material that lawn chairs are made of. So, a boat pulls the device, water and oil flow through the open end, tar balls are caught and the water flows out!
Out of the 120,000 ideas that BP received, this is one of the winners. Congratulations to Gerry Matherne for coming up with something so simple, yet effective! To read the full L.A. Times article, go to: http://www.latimes.com/news/nationworld/nation/la-na-oil-skunk-works-20100722,0,3196450.story
Posted by Janna Orkney. I know this does not have to do with the Conejo Valley, but it is such a feel-good story, that I wanted to share it with you.
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