DAVID JUNGBLUT

Oakcrest students innovate solutions to oil spill

Ideas Brandon D. --- For future events, there should be a secondary pipe that surrounds the primary pipe without being connected to the original infrastructure. This will allow the oil to be controlled without any problems to start with. Brent T. --- Have a silk cloth or some kind of cloth that oil can’t go threw and drag it into one spot. James L.--- Have many large boats surrounding the oil slick, with large suction tubes going into the oil, sucking up the oil and water.

Brian D. they should redirect the pipe to another designated spot so the oil does not go into the water.

Where the oil is spilling out you can try to plug it up with another sheet of metal to stop it from flowing into the oceans making the problem easier and it will be easier to clean up. -Maurice S.

Ideas Joseph l– Have a submarine go down to the oil leak and put a kind of lid over top of the pipe that the oil is coming from. Darrell R- since the oil is spreading a floating wall around oil to stop it from spreading and moving into the gulf currents.

Brittany G.- Check the pipes frequently to see if there are any damages and if there are you can fix them and most problems can be avoided in the future. Cesar V.-Build a trench that will direct the oil and exit at an exit point. Micah D.- build a dam so the oil cannot go any futher.

Funneling the Oil One way to stop the oil from causing more pollution would be to make a funnel to cover the pipe that is leaking into the Gulf of Mexico. The funnel should be at least five feet larger than the pipe and be placed directly over the pipe. The funnel should have fittings that will allow pipes to be screwed all the way on to the funnel, so that the oil can be directed to the surface and ultimately be pumped into tankers. DAVID JUNGBLUT

Another option would have a much bigger funnel that would only go partially down into the Gulf of Mexico.

Controlling the Leaking Oil Naturally

One of the problems of stopping the oil leak would be controlling the direction of the oil. How does nature trap oil? What are density layers?

Geosynclines or Traps

Trough

What are density layers? Density of oil is lower than water so it will float on water. Covering the oil in thick plastic could trap the oil when the trough is weighted down.

The leak is flowing with the changing currents. It could be solved by lowering Plexiglas or steel plates at angles. DAVID JUNGBLUT

Other Environmental Issues Aquatic life and the oil slick Estuary life and oil washing up on shore Oil going into Gulf Stream Current

Aquatic life and the oil slick Set up barriers

More Ideas Rachel G.—use a big sponge or similar material and soak up the oil near the shore line. Ryan B.– use a fan and create a whirl pool- to suck out the oil. Bryan B.– take a coupling and put it on the broken pipe. Than connect another pipe to the coupling.

Box solution Tank with water and oil. Drained the water from the bottom. Then pump oil into a new reservoir. The larger the pump the more work can be completed. Fire trucks have drafting hose that can go over 3,000 psi. Jacob L. is volunteer fireman with Weymouth