Miles of Oil Containment Boom Sit in Warehouse, Waiting for BP or U.S. to Use

Pajamas Media ^ | June 8, 2010 | - by Gregory Sullivan

[EBH]

John Lapoint of Packgen in Auburn, Maine, says he’s got plenty of floating oil containment boom and can make lots more on short notice. There’s just one problem: no one will buy it from him.

He’s already had a representative from BP visit his factory and inspect his product. The governor of Maine, John Baldacci, visited the facility and made a video plea to no one in particular to close the deal. Maine Senators Olympia Snowe and Susan Collins wrote a letter on May 21 to the secretary of the Interior, the administrator of NOAA, and the commandant of the Coast Guard to alert them to the existence of Packgen, their supply of boom, and their demonstrated capacity to make more. I have no idea if those are the correct persons and agencies to notify about the manufacturing capacity and the availability of boom. One wonders if the senators know.

While it is not easy to clean up an ocean oil spill, it is not a complicated procedure. In the open ocean, chemicals can be sprayed on slicks to try to disperse them. For the most part, oil floats, so it can sometimes be ignited and burned to lessen the amount that might reach a more sensitive area than the middle of an ocean. Out in open water, you can use booms but the wind and wave action makes it pretty difficult to place them and keep them there. When you get in closer to shore, where the oil is likely to do the most damage but the water is generally calmer, the best way to deal with it is to place flexible booms in the water, against which the oil will collect, and then run skimmers, a sort of pump that vacuums up and separates the oil ...

[EBH]

An enterprising businessman put his factory in overdrive, figuring the country needed his product and his workers needed overtime. He's making enough to stem the shortage. Why is everyone ignoring him?

[Travis McGee]

Lack of leadership from the top.

[Xenalyte]

Probably because this is the article’s third posting. (I searched “boom” in title and got that in about three seconds.)

[anniegetyourgun]

He may want to hang on to them....for the day oil ends up on Maine coast.

[Ann Archy]

Obama said HE WAS TELLING BP WHAT TO DO!!
BLAME OBAMA!!

[Ingtar]

His company’s product would mean they could not use the dispersant, costing the Obama regime cronies millions, if not billions.

[Pollster1]

Why is everyone ignoring him?

Contrary to the impressions held by 90% of Freepers, Obama has principles, and buying the boom would violate his guiding principle: "Never let a crisis go to waste." We need massive ecological damage to push through whatever Obama has next on his socialist agenda, and allowing capitalism to save the Gulf Coast would ruin everything for the community-organizer-in-chief and waste a beautiful crisis.

[omega4179]

just because somebody goes off and makes something in their shop does not mean we agreed to buy it.
I have a vortex machine in my garage that will suck all the oil down to the deepest part of the gulf and leave it on the bottom but why oh why won’t bp and the government buy it from me?

Possible troll alert.

[cvq3842]

Seriously, what is going on with this crisis? What should have been done? Why is it not being done?

Thanks in advance for any answers.

[poindexter]

Bobby Jindal needs to swoop in and buy the stuff for Louisiana.

[Vigilanteman]

Exactly!

[Diogenesis]

"You had your chance to invest in NALCO and ConEd
but you blew it. But we also run a vacation flotilla
in the Mediterranean … with a seat just for you."

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