Real Oil Spill Solutions: March 2011

Thursday, March 31, 2011

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Three Questions You can Ask the X Challenge

1. Why are sorbents steadfastly prevented from entry and excluded from consideration, even ones certified through the EPA's National Contingency Plan as safe for use on open water?

2. How can the Challenge be a fair opportunity to obtain the fastest, safest, and most efficient environmentally sustainable approach to oil spill cleanup with rules that prohibit promising alternatives to the status quo?

3. Your guidelines expressly acknowledge that skimmers always leave a substantial amount of oil in the water. The test criteria conveniently create a low recovery threshold of 70 % for qualification (dismissing sorbents known to have 99% recovery). Is the X Challenge intentionally lowering all expectations? How far below 99% is the X Challenge willing to accept as a “winner?”

What is a Sorbent?

A sorbent is a material used to absorb liquids or gases.

When you are talking about an oil sorbent you are generally speaking about materials that can absorb oil or other liquid hydrocarbons.

Technically speaking even a skimmer involves a sorbent - its drum used to remove or skim oil off the surface of water.

There are many types of Oil sorbents but only a few - including MOP - are actually certified through a process set up by the US EPA for dispersal on Open water. If the X CHALLENGE was afraid of being overwhelmed by the number of entrants in the contest (which we think would be a good thing) they could have easily limited sorbents to those permitted for dispersal on open water. This would have been a justifiable reason. Instead they chose to eliminate all sorbents, thereby abandoning their mission to find the best solution.

X CHALLENGE TIMELINE

July 29, 2010: WSOSCXC Announced

No mention of the sorbent exclusion in early documentation.

August 5, 2010: Pre-registration Complete.

MOP Among the first Businesses to Pre-Register

August 31. 2010: MOP solicits info from WSOSCXC – Encouraged to Apply

October 28, 2010: Registration Officially Opened

Guidelines and Submission Requirements first published

February 14, 2011: MOP X CHALLENGE Registration and Fees Complete

February 24, 2011: MOP takes down social media pages

March 9, 2011: MOP Conference call with Jeff Skipper

“This is just the type of thing we are looking for!” Jeff Skipper

Skipper Requests MOP submit written rationale for removing or altering the Guideline’s exclusion of sorbents. Says he will advocate for the changes.

March 11, 2011: CD 1st letter to Jeff Skipper and X CHALLENGE ADMINISTRATION

March 12, 2011: Omitted attachments sent to Skipper

March 14, 2011: Date Jeff Skipper has told MOP he will have response.

No response forthcoming from Jeff Skipper

March 20 Second teleconference with Jeff Skipper when MOP reaches him on telephone

Skipper meekly states “well this is a sort of skimmer type contest”

Skipper agrees to bring one further appeal to administrators with MOP plan for pr4e-approval.

March 25, 2011: CD 2nd letter dated 3/21 sent to Skipper

March 29, 2011: MOP Participates in Webinar to address final instructions regarding the Master Team Agreement

Participants informed that anyone using sorbents would not advance to finalist status.

April 4, 2011: Deadline to complete MTA

MOP Submits letter of withdrawal, Asks 3 Questions regarding rationale for sortbent exclusion.

There is to date no response to MOP’s 3 questions.

Thursday, March 31, 2011

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