Raleigh, N.C. — A Raleigh man is hoping his company can help fix the oil spill covering the Gulf of Mexico.

Jason Caplan said his company, EnSolve BioSystems, has been using a process on ships around the world for years that makes oily water from vessels safe in ocean water.

Caplan said the technology uses a naturally occurring process.

“It has oil degrading microbes, which convert the oil into carbon dioxide and water,” he said.

Microbes and nutrients are placed on booms about 20 feet long. Those bags are then placed on beaches.

Caplan said the oil breakdown happens in a matter of hours. He said the devices, which are prototypes, would be safe for animals and people along the Gulf Coast.

“We have never seen people get injured or sick,” he said.

Caplan believes his clean-up method would be cheaper than some of the ones used now in the Gulf.

A blast at the Deepwater Horizon oil rig, about 50 miles off the Louisiana coast, led to the massive leak on April 20.

Caplan said he is in talks with clean-up contractors in the Gulf.

“We are hoping to really do some good down there,” he said.