Q: I think I read somewhere that Mel Gibson had invented a machine that could skim oil off bodies of water? Did I dream that?
—Michelle Barnett, Powder Springs
A: Actor Kevin Costner, not Gibson, owned a company called Ocean Therapy Solutions that made equipment that takes water contaminated by oil, separates it and then expels nearly clean water back into the ocean. Costner came up with the idea after the Exxon Valdez oil spill in Alaska in 1989 and teamed with his brother Dan, a scientist who helped developed the technology. Costner and his investors spent millions of dollars marketing Ocean Therapy Solutions before BP tested the equipment to help clean polluted water during the Deepwater Horizon oil spill in the Gulf of Mexico in 2010. "It's like a big vacuum cleaner," Costner's business partner John Houghtaling told the New York Daily News in 2010. "The machines are basically sophisticated centrifuge devices that can handle a huge volume of water." BP bought 32 of the devices for $52 million, the Associated Press reported.
Q: What happened to Katie Brace on Channel 46?
—Bob Strickland, Lawrenceville
A: Brace left CBS46 (WGCL) last month to join WBZ, the CBS affiliate in Boston. Her final newscast was on March 2. Brace, who is a Massachusetts native, had been in Atlanta since 2009, anchoring weekends and reporting during the week. "After our two storms in Atlanta this year, I need more winter weather! I am heading to Boston to join a great news station," Brace posted on her Facebook page and Twitter account on March 2.
Andy Johnston wrote this column. Do you have a question about the news? We’ll try to get the answer. Call 404-222-2002 or email q&a@ajc.com (include name, phone and city).
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