Local man behind new technology to help clean up oil spills

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VANCOUVER (NEWS1130) – Gabe Cipes, the Kelowna man who is trying to clean up the Gulf oil spill using a commonly found weed, is back from his trip to Louisiana.

Cipes was trying out his theory at a place nicknamed The End of the World Venice, Louisiana, which is about as far south as the Gulf Coast stretches. He says the key to soaking up all of that oil may be cattails, the plants found in marshlands all across North America. Cipes says he had the chance to do a demonstration where he used cattail fluff to soak up oil.

Cipes notes a single piece of fluff can soak up about twenty times its own weight in oil, and can be re-used up to ten times. “It’s a really cool plant and it does things that science can’t explain. So, it’s nature’s filter.”

He is now raising money to get back to Louisiana, so he can do more experiments.

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