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Bath Company Makes Product That Absorbs Oil
CEO Says MOP Could Help Gulf Communities Clean Up Spill
POSTED: 5:00 pm EDT July 1, 2010
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BATH, N.H. -- A company from Bath is helping towns along the Gulf Coast clean up oil oozing from the ocean floor.
MOP Environmental Solutions is using its signature product, the Maximum Oil Pickup, or MOP, to absorb oil slicks. CEO Charles Diamond said he believes MOP could bring the oil mess under control.
"It's no more harmful than a leaf dropping in the water," he said.
MOP is a cotton-like material made from vegetable fiber that repels water and only picks up oil. Diamond developed it years ago when someone challenged him to come up with an oil-absorbing product.
"I came up with an answer very quickly, and it was patentable," he said.
Diamond demonstrated the product by pouring oil into a tank. He dropped MOP around the sides of the oil spill, and seconds later, it absorbed the oil.
He then scooped the MOP off the surface, taking only the oil and leaving clean water behind. He said the oil collected in the MOP can be removed with a machine.
"It's very easily recovered," he said. "You squeeze it, and then you've got the oil."
A town in Florida is now ordering booms that are filled with MOP. Diamond said a boat can drag the booms around a body of water to clean up an oil slick.
He said his product is biodegradable and can be buried underground with oil-digesting microbes that would eliminate the oil.
Diamond said he hopes that oil companies, in addition to communities, use his product.
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