Our oil and gas drilling rigs are a national asset, as their production and collection effects the supply side of the economic equation. Our country runs on fuel and the flow of these fuels and crude is a necessity to the ability of our civilization to operate efficiently. When things break down or stop due to hostile weather storms we feel it in our economic output and productivity. In fact just about everything you buy has been delivered by something using fuel and most of us need and use natural gas for many things. We must pit these needs of our civilization against the environmental costs associated with them. We indeed cannot afford to make trades, which might cause dead zones of sea life or pollute our oceans. Luckily for us Mother Nature is quite resilient in handling mankind's pollution, however we must continuing monitor the types of pollution we allow and prevent 99.9% of it whenever we can. Oil and gas drilling rigs often take hits from Hurricane Storms and occasionally one is completely destroyed, causing an unfortunate release of chemicals, oil spill or other pollution. These rigs are coated with very high-tech coatings to prevent rust and corrosion from the constant salt spray of the never forgiving ocean. I propose we add a coating to this already incredible coating; one which will be above the normal water levels. If an oilrig is tipped over or destroyed these coatings would mix with the water and release oil and gas-eating bacteria, which would attach to any spill and start feasting on it. Bio-remediation is a science, which has come very far very fast in the past decade. I further propose that oilrig support structures have environmental dispensers containing spongy bio remediation pellets, which will be released if the rig is destroyed or turned upside down. These pellets would be made of spongy material containing soapy substances of bio-eating bacteria, which would feast upon the gas or oil spill. I propose that the spongy material not stick to ships or hurt the boat hulls of vessels, which might bump into them as they float. Additionally I propose that the spongy material would also be made very distasteful to birds, fish, sea life and wildlife; yet would clean the spill. Timed released biological and environmental remediation is nothing new, many environmental engineers use this to help reduce large algae blooms which threaten drinking water supplies, affect water quality or are a danger to sea life. Think on this. |
