Rebecca Rosenberg
The New York Post
6/5/2010
SLIDELL, La. — The Long Island girl genius who hatched a plan to solve the Gulf oil spill yesterday toured a ravaged area of the coast — and said it’s more important than ever that her plan be put into effect.
Alia Sabur teaching a class at SUNO in New Orleans, photo Toby Armstrong
“This is a nightmare,” said 21-year-old engineering prodigy Alia Sabur after a 2½-hour helicopter ride with BP workers and Coast Guard members east of Lake Pontchartrain. “And I think my idea would help.”
Sabur, who has already worked with NASA and the Defense Department as she studies for her Ph.D., showed her plans to a BP executive on Thursday.
Her tour yesterday of the endangered Gulf region filled her with determination to solve the crisis.
“It was sad seeing the oil,” she said.
Sabur’s plan calls for a pipe ringed by deflated car tires to be rammed into the leaking oil pipe. Once in place, the tires would be inflated through pneumatic tubes and form a seal.
During her aerial tour yesterday, Sabur witnessed the long booms put in place to trap oil before it can get to shore.
“Even if they fix the leak, there’s going to be still a lot more to deal with,” she said. “It’s a scary thought.”
