Photo by Elizabeth Earl/Peninsula Clarion David Schmitt, the COO of Industrial Hemp Manufacturing in Spring Hope, North Carolina, demonstrates how kenaf fiber can absorb spilled oil at the Kenai Peninsula Borough Economic Development District on Tuesday, Aug. 16, 2016. Schmitt said the kenaf fiber, a wood-like plant, can absorb 30 times as much as clay composite, which is regularly used to help clean up land-based oil spills.

Photo by Elizabeth Earl/Peninsula Clarion David Schmitt, the COO of Industrial Hemp Manufacturing in Spring Hope, North Carolina, demonstrates how kenaf fiber can absorb spilled oil at the Kenai Peninsula Borough Economic Development District on Tuesday, Aug. 16, 2016. Schmitt said the kenaf fiber, a wood-like plant, can absorb 30 times as much as clay composite, which is regularly used to help clean up land-based oil spills.

Hemp proposed as construction, oil spill material

When an oil spill occurs, one of the first reactions is to use something to mop it up.

Respondents will use clay-based absorbents on land-based spills or polymer dispersants on water to help dissipate or collect the oil so it’s easier to remove from the spill site. However, it can be expensive and may take significant volumes before the spill is under control.

David Schmitt, the COO of Spring Hope, North Carolina-based Industrial Hemp Manufacturing, thinks there’s a better way. His company produces a plant fiber-based absorbent called SpillSuck he said was used to combat the 2010 Deepwater Horizon oil spill in the Gulf of Mexico.

ADVERTISEMENT
0 seconds of 0 secondsVolume 0%
Press shift question mark to access a list of keyboard shortcuts
00:00
00:00
00:00
 

Despite the company’s name, the farm has just started growing hemp. Most of its past products have been made of kenaf, a widely legal cousin. The kenaf plant is a member of the hibiscus family, making it more closely related to the state flower of Hawaii than the hemp plant, which is in the cannabis family.

“Kenaf is legal everywhere,” Schmitt said during a presentation at the Kenai Peninsula Economic Development District on Aug. 16. “It looks like the marijuana plant … but it causes severe headaches and tears (smokers’) throats all up.”

Ground kenaf looks like sawdust. The enzymes in the plant eat hydrocarbons, so the fibers suck up oil rapidly and can be swept away after a few minutes, Schmitt explained. To demonstrate, he poured motor oil in a pan and topped it with a generous handful of the kenaf. He worked it in with a paintbrush, and after a moment, swept it clean into a corner, all the oil absorbed.

“This stuff will absorb 30 times more than clay,” Schmitt said. “… You pour some motor oil down and you put clay on it, and more clay and more clay, and you still have a very heavy film on the concrete floor. You put a fourth as much of our kenaf material, it’ll clean the same amount of oil up and then it’ll finish cleaning up the area that the clay didn’t clean up.”

Kenaf is more expensive than the clay composites used to absorb oil in land-based spills and the polymers used in water-based spills but is more absorbent, balancing out. Because it contains no THC, it is legal everywhere in the world, and is used for a variety of purposes from pet bedding to paper.

Schmitt’s company is in its second growing season for kenaf. However, this year he also planted a hemp crop as part of a pilot project after North Carolina legalized the plant for some producers to grow through a pilot project, authorized by the 2014 national farm bill. Though kenaf is a useful plant, hemp has more potential products, he said.

“What the whole hemp movement is about is job creation and economic development,” Schmitt said. “There’s over 25,000 uses for the industrial hemp plant. My focus is on products to help the environment … in the short term, in the next year or two, I’d love to sell our products (in Alaska). But ultimately, to be cost effective and to be competitive, it’s going to have to happen right here.”

Though commercial marijuana became legal in Alaska in February 2015, hemp is not yet legal. The marijuana relative has lower concentrations of THC, the psychoactive chemical in marijuana, and produces woody fiber that is used in textiles and construction. A bill had been floating through the Legislature since January 2015 to legalize industrial hemp but was not passed during the last session.

Jack Bennett of Homer said he sees great potential for hemp in the state beyond. He’s currently building a house out of hemp on East End Road, importing the wood from overseas through Seattle to build it. Alaska’s agriculture industry could benefit greatly from the legalization of hemp, he said.

Hemp homes have been built all over the world and are more energy efficient at preserving heat, he said. That could be a huge boon to Alaska, where heat is one of the single largest bills for homeowners. Plus, hemp is like any other woody fiber, he said.

“They don’t have to look hippie or alternative to be comfortable,” Bennett said.

Bennett is using hempcrete, a product using the interior fibers of the hemp plant mixed with lime and water to use as insulation. The savings could help offset the cost of housing in rural Alaska, where more low-income Alaskans tend to live, he said.

Bennett has given presentations at the Homer Rotary Club, the Kenai Peninsula Economic Development District, Homer City Council and has plans to present before the Kenai Peninsula Borough Assembly. He said he was able to talk with Gov. Bill Walker about legal hemp in Alaska as well.

Besides the construction and oil industry applications, hemp has a number of value-added product uses, from car parts to hair products, that would make it a viable agricultural product in Alaska, he said. Some people have been receptive to it, while others have been wary, he said.

“I run into people who are totally for it and others who are totally opposed to it,” Bennett said. “That’s sort of discouraging, but you know, you kind of expect that.”

 

Reach Elizabeth Earl at elizabeth.earl@peninsulaclarion.com.

Photo courtesy Jack Bennett Jack Bennett holds up a handful of milled hemp wood, which he is using to insulate the house he is buildling in Homer.

Photo courtesy Jack Bennett Jack Bennett holds up a handful of milled hemp wood, which he is using to insulate the house he is buildling in Homer.

More in News

Pool manager and swim coach Will Hubler leads a treading water exercise at Kenai Central High School in Kenai, Alaska, on Tuesday, June 17, 2025. (Jake Dye/Peninsula Clarion)
Swimmers, parents call on Kenai to support Kenai Central pool

The KPBSD Board of Education last week said communities will need to step up and take over administration of pools within the next year.

Traffic passes by South Spruce Street in Kenai, Alaska, on Tuesday, June 10, 2025. (Jake Dye/Peninsula Clarion)
Kenai drops effort to rename South Spruce Street

The resolution would have changed the name to make it clear which road led to North Kenai Beach

Gov. Mike Dunleavy compares Alaska to Mississippi data on poverty, per-pupil education spending, and the 2024 National Assessment of Education Progress fourth grade reading scores during a press conference on Jan. 31, 2025. Alaska is highlighted in yellow, while Mississippi is in red. (Jasz Garrett / Juneau Empire)
Dunleavy calls special session for August

Lawmakers on Wednesday said they were surprised by the move.

A makeshift coffin decrying the risks of Medicaid funding cuts is seen on Thursday, June 26, in front of the Blazy Mall in Soldotna. The cuts were included in legislation passed by the U.S. Senate early Tuesday morning. (Photo by Jonas Oyoumick/Peninsula Clarion)
Ahead of Senate vote, Soldotna protesters defend Medicaid funding

Cuts to the program were included in legislation passed by the U.S. Senate early Tuesday morning.

Board President Zen Kelly speaks during a meeting of the Kenai Peninsula Borough School District’s Board of Education in Soldotna, Alaska, on Monday, Dec. 2, 2024. (Jake Dye/Peninsula Clarion)
Kenai Peninsula Borough school board to finalize budget

The new budget designed by the committee will be considered at a public hearing during the full board meeting on Monday evening.

The Russian River Sanctuary Area is seen in the area labeled B in this map provided by the Alaska Department of Fish and Game. (courtesy)
Strong sockeye run prompts early open of Russian River Sanctuary

In regulation, the confluence is expected to be open from July 15 to Aug. 20.

The Swan Lake Fire can be seen from above on Monday, Aug. 26 on the Kenai Peninsula, Alaska. (Photo courtesy Alaska Wildland Fire Information)
Burn suspension lifted for Kenai Peninsula and Kodiak

The public is asked to remain vigilant while burning due to minimal available resources.

Commanding Officer Corey Engel, Rear Adm. Megan Dean, and former ASPEN Commanding Officer Shea Winterberger smile for a photograph during the Change of Command ceremony on Thursday, June 26, 2025, on the Homer Spit in Homer, Alaska. (Chloe Pleznac/Homer News)
USCG ASPEN changes command

Commanding Officer Corey Engel will be in charge of the cutter’s operations and crew.

Volunteers repair the trails at Erik Hansen Scout Park in Kenai, Alaska, on Wednesday, June 25, 2025. (Jake Dye/Peninsula Clarion)
Volunteers revitalize Kenai scout park

Kenai’s Erik Hansen Scout Park overlooks the mouth of the Kenai River in Old Town.

Most Read