Hesco's vital role in fighting oil spill

Hesco Bastion USA is working with the National Guard to deploy its trademark Concertainer units in strategic locations to protect against the oil coming onshore and entering inland waterways. The company is also working on innovative plans using polymers to help remove oil from the water.

A statement said: "While Concertainer units have been used to contain spills in oil installations, nothing on this scale has been attempted before meaning the success of the deployment will be tested by many factors, not least the poor weather conditions experienced up to now.

"Hesco USA will continue to support the operation in the hope that the effects of the spill can be reduced, and avoid the clean-up operation from being overwhelmed."

The units are made with collapsible wire mesh containers with fabric lining. Once opened, they are filled with aggregate to form a robust wall. They are widely used in war zones.

Jimi Heselden OBE, from Halton, owns the two companies that make the units – Louisiana-based Hesco Bastion USA and Leeds-based Hesco Bastion Ltd.

He rarely gives interviews.

Meanwhile, BP said yesterday that clean-up costs from the huge spill had reached 234m.

Since the Deepwater Horizon rig exploded and sank on April 20 – killing 11 workers – around 3.6 million gallons of oil have flooded into the ocean, threatening an environmental catastrophe.

The company has spent around 67m so far on a relief well being drilled to meet the leaking well at around 13,000 feet below the seabed and cut off the flow of oil, but this is set to take three months to complete.

The group has also made grants to the affected states of Louisiana, Mississippi, Alabama and Florida – as well as paying out for costs such as liquid dispersant for the oil.

BP is attempting to place a huge containment canopy over the main leak point on the seabed although it was forced to suspend this over the weekend due to a build up of gas blocking its pipes.