Hesco having success in oil spill battle

THE head of Hesco Bastion USA said the Leeds-owned company is making good progress in the operation to defend a vulnerable stretch of American shoreline from the massive oil spill in the Gulf of Mexico.

By The Newsroom

Published 13th May 2010, 13:49 BST

Updated 13th May 2010, 13:49 BST

The company is working with the National Guard to deploy its Concertainer units – steel mesh cages which are filled with aggregate – around a 3.5 mile stretch of Dauphin Island off the coast of Alabama.

Speaking to the Yorkshire Post, Stephanie Victory, the president and COO, said: "The barriers are being used as a containment mechanism. The structure needs to be able to tolerate winds and four-foot waves."

The oil has yet to reach the island. If it does, Hesco and another company will join forces to fill the units with hydrocarbon-solidifying polymers to remove the oil from the water.

Hesco Bastion USA is owned by Jimi Heselden, a former miner from Leeds. It concentrates on civil applications, while its Leeds-based sister company manufactures units for war zones. Ms Victory said: "We have had a couple of storms hit the wall and we are having 100 per cent success."

Leeds American