California Company Develops Revolutionary New Marine Vibrator That is Less Harmful to Marine Life as a Potential Replacement to the Controversial Air Gun
Jul 16, 2015, 09:00 ET
CHATSWORTH, Calif., July 16, 2015 /PRNewswire/ -- GreenPowerUSA Inc. (GPUSA) announced today that it has developed a revolutionary new marine vibrator seismic source that is as powerful as an air gun but without any of the explosive blasting that has been blamed for harming whales, porpoises, and other marine life. The new system represents a radical departure from traditional marine seismic source technology and GPUSA believes it can dramatically change how offshore seismic surveys are performed for the exploration and production of oil and gas.
In March of this year, 75 leading ocean scientists from the U.S. and around the world sent a letter to President Obama urging him to reconsider his approval of a planned oil and gas exploration program utilizing seismic air guns off the US Atlantic coast. An Environmental Impact Statement (EIS), released in 2014 by the U.S. Department of Interior's Bureau of Ocean Energy Management (BOEM), estimated that about 138,000 marine animals could be injured in some way, and perhaps 13.6 million could have their migration, feeding, or other behavioral patterns disrupted by these air gun seismic surveys recently approved by the Obama administration. It is widely believed that replacing the impulsive air gun sources with controlled marine vibratory sources would greatly reduce the harm to marine life, yet to date, no suitable air gun replacement has been identified and widely adopted by the industry.
"While others attempt to adapt traditional seismic/sonar technology to the marine vibrator application we at GPUSA have taken a completely different approach. Utilizing state-of-the-art factory automation/programmable logic technology to precisely control small, rugged, yet very powerful motors, GPUSA has been able to achieve performance levels far beyond what is possible using the traditional technology," states Jim Andersen, GPUSA's CEO. "Although testing is still underway, engineers at GPUSA are determined to get this technology into the hands of the seismic operators as soon as possible because so much is at stake."
About GPUSA Inc:
GPUSA Inc. is a privately-held, high-technology startup company based in Chatsworth, CA that has developed and now manufactures land and marine seismic sources for more efficient energy exploration, production, and storage. For additional information visit our web site at www.gpusa-ca.com
SOURCE GreenPowerUSA Inc.