City of Providence, Northwest Woolen Mills and ProvPort team up to help Gulf Spill
Thursday, July 08, 2010
When America's south coast called for a little help, the City of Providence, Northwest Woolen Mills and ProvPort answered the call. Mayor David N. Cicilline and Providence Emergency Management Agency (PEMA) Director Peter T. Gaynor announced that Northwest Woolen Mills, a Rhode Island-based wool manufacturer, is donating 25 pallets of oil absorbent pads to emergency workers engaged in the oil spill clean up in the Gulf of Mexico. ProvPort has agreed to ship the material free-of-charge.
“The BP oil spill is having a devastating impact on our environment – destroying wildlife, polluting our oceans and waterways and ruining the livelihoods of thousands of people,” said Mayor Cicilline. “I want to thank Northwest Woolen Mills and ProvPort for responding to this catastrophy that will have an impact on generations to come.”
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"We are delighted to be part of the solution. The Oil Spill in the gulf is an environmental disaster and ProvPort is pleased to join the City of Providence and Northwest Woolen in helping folks clean up this mess," said Bruce Waterson, ProvPort.
Government scientists estimate that between 1.5 million and 2.5 million gallons of oil flow into the Gulf of Mexico each day from a broken well beneath the ocean. It is now the largest oil spill in U.S. history.
The oil absorbent pads will be shipped directly to the Baldwin County Emergency Management Agency in Robertsdale, Alabama, a Gulf shore community hit hard by the oil spill. The absorbent pads, which have become an essential tool in clean up efforts, will be used by crews to remove crude from the oil-soaked shore lines. Each woolen-blend, reusable pad absorbs up to 18 times its weight in surface oil, which is about 2.75 gallons of oil per sheet.
