NEWS

WIRES

OTHER

New York Artist Announces Solution to Gulf Oil Crisis

Gabriel Majors, who refers to himself as a "tactical media artist", and has gained a good deal of notoriety for his acts of political theater, has turned his attention to the Gulf oil spill. Majors, under the name GMAJORSPRESENTS, has received coverage from both Associated Press and Fox News for cause-oriented stunts such as putting the Golden Gate Bridge up for auction on EBay to illustrate flaws in its verification process.

He is now taking on the guise of spokesman for ex-Marine Peter Omeara, of Hartford, Connecticut, to promote what he sees as a viable way to resolve the ever-worsening emergency. Involved is the world's largest pump, which, as it happens, is located in New Orleans.

"I invite British Petroleum and the President to at least explore Peter's idea, and I'm willing to bet the ranch it will work," says Majors, "as long as BP supplies certain information, like visuals of the sea floor, temperature, particle flow rate, and psi (pounds per square inch) rates. There's a slim chance some of them might be things they can't determine, but I want to at least know if they know. Then I want to get their feedback, and if they decide the plan won't work, I want to hear why."

Accusations of "Excessive Finger-Pointing"

"I didn't think it was possible to point fingers while you're sitting on your hands, but both BP and the Obama Administration, not to mention ex-governor Sarah Palin, are doing just that," continues Majors. "Meanwhile, the environment is being compromised in a way that will affect us for generations. People are sick of accusations; they want action."

Majors and Omeara both feel that the focus has been on how BP will be punished, rather than on how to stop the leak and clean up the mess. "If they're going to do nothing but sit around playing the blame game, they should move over and let others take charge. Somebody like a Marine, who knows how to get things done and doesn't take 'no' for an answer," Majors added.

Hidden in Plain Sight

Omeara, who studied agronomy, horticulture, and hydraulic engineering at the University of Massachusetts, formulated his idea before finding out about the pump, which was constructed in the wake of the Hurricane Katrina tragedy. Knowing it would take a machine of mammoth proportions to handle the task, he simply googled "world's largest pump" before discovering it was located virtually at the epicenter of the disaster. He is "baffled" as to why the Army Corps of Engineers or anyone else hasn't thought to deploy it. "If they gave BP use of the pump, they could supply all the numbers on factors like temperature and viscosity, not to mention the manpower that's needed to make the proper modifications on the containment dome," he said.

How the Plan Would Work

In simplest terms, Omeara's resolution of the problem has to do with removing the oil at the same rate at which it is being leaked, creating equal pressure, in turn bringing about a siphon effect, something easily accomplished with the aid of the New Orleans pump. As long as the proper temperature is maintained (which is possible as long as the velocity of the oil flow through the siphon remains steady), the problem of crystal formation, which has impeded previous efforts, would no longer be an issue. The oil could then be trapped in a poured-concrete containment dome custom-made for the site.

Omeara believes this system could also be implemented as standard practice, as a preventative measure.

A much more complete description of the plan, along with specifications and schematic diagrams, is available on his web site, http://stoptheoilnow.com.

For Further Information: Majors and Omeara are looking to have the web site, http://stoptheoilnow.com, be a forum for discussion. Consequently, comments are welcome.