Tony's Gone, Kevin's In

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BP Oil spill update: Tony Hayward steps down, Kevin Costner to clean up the Gulf (video)

June 19, 12:13 PM | US Headlines Examiner | Charisse Van Horn

BP Oil spill update: Tony Hayward steps down, Kevin Costner to clean up the Gulf (video)

Today marks the 61st day since the fatal explosion of the Deepwater Horizon oil rig. On Friday, it was announced that Tony Hayward would step down from day to day operations regarding the oil spill crisis and response efforts while Kevin Costner spoke with CNN’s Anderson Cooper regarding the sale of his oil machine that separates oil from water.

An estimated 12.6 million gallons of oil has destroyed underwater marine life and continues to encroach upon Gulf Coast shores. As the nation focuses on saving the Gulf, the debate regarding offshore drilling continues. A lawsuit attempting to lift the six-month moratorium on drilling is moving forward. BP announced that they have purchased 32 of Kevin Costner’s oil separating machines.

Kevin Costner testified before Congress last week and spoke about his invention. He said, “What I would beg the leaders in this country and the oil industry together would be, before you lift the moratorium, before you do that, to please have cleanup technology in place or at least on a way in a specific time that's designed to meet and match with full force the worst-case scenario that can be presented to us.”

Kevin Costner said that he was inspired to create the machines after the Exxon Valdez oil spill disaster but until now, no one took him seriously. He said that when he brought his centrifuge machine to market he was essentially told that oil spills were a thing of the past.

“There was all manner of excuses, and none of them added up. And so, you know, spills occur on a daily basis. I think someone said enough oil spills on a daily basis that every seven months we're having an Exxon Valdez out there. It's just out of mind, out of sight," said Kevin Costner to Anderson Cooper.

And it takes something like this to happen where -- you know, now, we're all pointed at it, and, you know, like -- the gut probably just got sucked back into this thing.