Post: #1

thankfully nobody killed. fire is not out, and there is an "oil sheen" on the water.


(CNN) -- A well connected to an oil and gas production platform caught on fire in the Gulf of Mexico Thursday, engulfing the vessel in flames about 100 miles off the central coast of Louisiana and forcing 13 people overboard, Gov. Bobby Jindal said.

All 13 people have been accounted for, said Petty Officer Bill Colclough of the Coast Guard. They were found floating on a raft, officials said. Mariner Energy, which owns the Vermilion Oil Rig 380, said none of the crew members was hurt in the incident, despite earlier reports of a single injured worker.

Also, Mariner indicated that the fire -- which was first reported to the Coast Guard by workers on a nearby rig around 9:20 a.m. (10:20 a.m. ET) -- was not sparked by an explosion. It started at one of the platform's seven active wells, the company said, though its cause is under investigation.

The company said an initial flyover of the site indicated "no hydrocarbon spill." However, Coast Guard Petty Officer Elizabeth Bordelon said there is a sheen on the water at the site of the platform, measuring about 100-feet wide and stretching for one mile.

The fire at the platform is not out yet, but it has been contained, she said.

Jindal said that Mariner has told him that all seven wells have been closed off and that what is burning now is from fuel in storage, and not from an active leak.

During the last week of August, production from the platform averaged approximately 9.2 million cubic feet of natural gas a day and 1,400 barrels (58,800 gallons) of oil, the company said.

David Reed, a paramedic on board a nearby oil rig, said he suddenly saw "a bunch of smoke" from the direction of the Vermilion platform, and radios in his rig's control room started "lighting up like a Christmas tree" soon after.

The first report of the fire came from Rotorcraft Leasing, a company that provides helicopter services for the industry, the Coast Guard said.



rescued...

Post: #2

Jesus Christ

Post: #3

The Gulf was such a cool place in the 70's...........Now I want to take a big juicy dump in the water there.....WTH everyone else has. I picture a big smelly beach with ugly gulls eating dead clams and shrimp. Oh hell! I have my mountains I almost forgot.

Post: #4

Surely it's time to find a better energy source than prehistoric sludge.

Post: #5

This morning on NPR news radio, there was a reporter walking one of the gulf beaches in Louisiana, and the reporter stated that she had an oily sticky residue on her skin from the gentle oil laden breeze coming off the water. BP turned parts of the gulf into a toxic mixture of chemicals and petroleum. I'm sure the marine life is enjoying living in harmony with toxic chemicals.
I'm living for the day someone drops each of the chief financial officers for BP into barrels of petroleum mixed with the chemicals they've been dumping into the gulf, and see how they live and feel for the next few decades.

Post: #6

::

Post: #7

Drill Baby Drill

Post: #8

Heh... if you want to read some interesting stuff on oil spills dating right back to the Valdez, visit http://www.rikiott.com

Post: #9

Crash thank you for the good link!