Just how bad are the beaches getting hit and what is being done about it?

Please take a look at this MSNBC Slide Show to understand what we are up against. Also, reports are coming in regarding the quality of beach cleanup BP is providing. Though we cannot verify all of this information, some are saying that the cleanup is more PR oriented than focused on providing a sustainable solution. This report claims that BP is only cleaning the top layer of sand, leaving layers of oil soaked sands below the surface which as it breaks down will create noxious odors and spoil the beaches. Please take special notice of this St. Petersburg Times article describing how there is a layer of oil six inches beneath the surface along part of Pensacola Beach. To make matters worse, this report claims that the problem is literally being "covered up" by simply dumping fresh sand to cover the oil contaminated sand. We understand that keeping up with a continual tidal recontamination of beach sand is a daunting task. We believe our technology is a sustainable SOLUTION because we can continually recycle the existing beach sands. Covering up the contamination will only cause problems down the line.

Our soil washing technology will clean oil spill contaminated beaches.

Using our biocatalytic enzyme/protein technology we can recycle oil contaminated sands from beaches and marshlands affected by the Deep Water Horizon oil spill. Our process restores CLEAN SAND and allows for safe SEQUESTRATION AND RECLAIM THE OIL. Ours is a tested technology which has been applied successfully in the past:

The oil pictured had accumulated in a waste oil pit located near Hobbs, New Mexico. The contamination was 198,000 parts per million or 19.8% meaning that the sand was virtually saturated with oil (this level of saturation exceeds levels projected for beach contamination along the Gulf Coast). In less than 7 minutes we cleaned all but one-half of one percent of the oil out of the sand.

As you can see, after processing the sand was clean. It even still contained most of the indigenous (beneficial) bacteria that is part of the soil in that area. In one pass there was only 4000 parts per million or four-tenths of one percent total remaining hydrocarbons. A second pass or rinse stage would have taken the total remaining hydrocarbons down close to the limits of detection.

This is the recovered oil from the sand in the first photo. It was a usable crude product suitable for returning to the inventory for refinery feedstock. A key benefit of our process is that it recovers the oil in a usable state so that it does not contaminate landfills.





Below is a picture of the pilot plant that was constructed to clean the sand. The enzyme/protein solution is non toxic and animal friendly. Advances to the design of the plan have been made since this project to make it scalable and portable.