Kevin Costner may be too old to dance with the wolves, but he is apparently young enough to help clean up a disastrous oil spill off the Louisiana coast.

According to the NY Daily News, the aging Hollywood star has managed to convince British Petroleum (BP) to test his oil-cleaning device in the badly polluted Gulf waters - where thousands of gallons of oil are gushing into the sea from a badly damaged BP rig.

Costner's high-speed centrifuge machine - which is dubbed "Ocean Therapy" - operates on a barge by sucking in large quantities of polluted water, separating the oil and expelling 97% clean water.

"It's like a big vacuum cleaner," Costner's business partner, Louisiana trial lawyer John Houghtaling told the NY Daily News.

"The machines are basically sophisticated centrifuge devices that can handle a huge volume of water."

Costner reportedly has 300 of his Ocean Therapy machines available in various sizes. 

The largest, weighing 21/2 tons, is capable of cleaning water at a rate of 200 gallons a minute - faster than the BP well is leaking.