Another one Soils the Ocean

[amadeus]

Inactive rig. Coast Guard investigating potential for leaks.

 

[Godwynn]

Yahoo! Finance

NEW ORLEANS, La. (AP) -- The Coast Guard is saying that a mile-long oil sheen is spreading from the site off an offshore petroleum platform that exploded in the Gulf of Mexico off Louisiana.

The site of the explosion is west of where BP's massive spill occurred.

The Coast Guard said no one was killed Thursday in the explosion. The blast was spotted by a commercial helicopter flying over the site.

All 13 people aboard the rig were found floating in the water in survival gear.

 

[Luckymoose]

The first one was an accident but this one is more than likely an eco-terrorist. Gov't response "Meh we like our oil money screw change"

 

[BSmith1068]

How is this more than likely an eco-terrorist act?

 

[Luckymoose]

How is this more than likely an eco-terrorist act?

We never had these explosions in previous years this close together. This one is a shallow water rig with a small crew. I wouldn't put it past some hippies in dingies to toss a molotov to try and get their message across.

 

[Oerdin]

http://news.blogs.cnn.com/2010/09/02/rescue-efforts-underway-after-oil-rig-accident-in-gulf/



My first thought, "You've got to be [effing] kidding me!"

What do you think the consequences will be if there is another major leak?

The rig wasn't in production so there isn't much chance of a major leak though it just goes to show that Obama was right and the Republicans are wrong. The current safety and approval process isn't good enough and it is tainted by industry's rosy glasses rather then reality so we need a complete top to bottom over haul of the entire approval process before we allow more drilling. The costs of a mistake are just too high so we need to get it right before we drill more.

 

[Oerdin]

The first one was an accident but this one is more than likely an eco-terrorist.

You should check to make sure your tin foil hat isn't too tight.

 

[BSmith1068]

We never had these explosions in previous years this close together. This one is a shallow water rig with a small crew. I wouldn't put it past some hippies in dingies to toss a molotov to try and get their message across.

Perhaps “more than likely” should be replaced with something like “I wouldn’t be surprised if”… That might make your statement a little more solid.

The photo is from here: http://www.keenobservers.com/3341/o...ilion-oil-rig-380-exploded-in-gulf-of-mexico/ It is not credited, but I am fairly certain this is the scale of rig we are talking about.

Not very likely some hippie in a passing dingy can do much to with a Molotov cocktail.

 

[BSmith1068]

Some more photos:

From here:
http://news.yahoo.com/nphotos/Boats...licid_ap_org_f37f301ae2154052afb4a136ca3978ed

 

[ParadigmShifter]

Are ecoterrorists going to row their dinghy 80 miles out to sea to do that? Wouldn't they run out of gas in their lighter from all the pot they smoked along the way? What if their matches got soggy?

EDIT: Although Ecofarm isn't busy with this forum anymore, and he lives in Florida... hmmm

 

[BSmith1068]

And it is not like incidents like this are all that uncommon…

Factbox: U.S. Energy Disasters in 2010

HOUSTON (Reuters) - Energy production and distribution in the United States can be a dangerous pursuit, in spite of strict safety regulations for oil, gas and coal producers and processors.

Following is a look at energy-related disasters that have rocked the United States in the course of 2010, including the deadly and environmentally destructive oil spill at BP's Macondo prospect in the Gulf of Mexico, which began in April.

Sept 2 - An offshore production rig operated by Mariner Energy in the Gulf of Mexico had a fire, forcing the immediate evacuation of 13 personnel and a major rescue response -- currently in progress -- from the U.S. Coast Guard, which said it identified an oil sheen at the site. The company had recently been producing around 1,400 barrels of crude and 9.2 million cubic feet per day of natural gas at the site.

July 26 - The Enbridge 6B crude pipeline, capacity 190,000 barrels per day, ruptured in Michigan and spilled more than 19,000 barrels into local waterways in one of the largest U.S. pipeline disasters ever. The pipeline remains closed and has affected some refinery operations across the U.S. Midwest.

June 7 - A natural gas pipeline explosion on a line owned by Enterprise Product Partners in North Texas killed one person. The 36-inch (91-cm) pipeline exploded 15 miles south of Godley, Texas. An electrical crew was digging a hole when it struck the gas pipeline. Enterprise violated several state regulations including adequately marking the path of the pipeline, according to the Texas Railroad Commission.

June 7 - An explosion and resulting fireball burned seven members of a crew drilling for natural gas at an abandoned coal mine in West Virginia, the second big fire at an energy project in the region in less than a week.

June 4 - Workers capped a natural gas well in central Pennsylvania after it ruptured during drilling, spewing gas and drilling fluid 75 feet in the air. The well, operated by EOG Resources Inc blew out when a drilling team was preparing to extract gas. No one was killed or injured, but officials later ordered the company to halt natural gas drilling in the state.

April 20 - Explosion and fire on Transocean Ltd's drilling rig Deepwater Horizon licensed to BP; 11 workers were killed on the rig stationed in deep waters south of Louisiana. The runaway oil well spilled up to 4.9 million barrels before it could be capped in mid-July, according to government estimates, making it the worst offshore oil spill in history.

April 5 - An explosion at the Upper Big Branch coal mine in Montcoal, West Virginia, killed 29 miners in the deadliest U.S. mining disaster since 1972. The mine owned by Massey Energy has had a worse-than-average injury rate over the last 10 years, with three fatalities since 1998.

April 2 - Four workers died in a blaze at Tesoro Corp's refinery in Anacortes, Washington, in the worst U.S. refining disaster since 2005. The fire resulted from equipment failure in a highly flammable unit producing naphtha at the plant.

March 2 - A fire on an asphalt tank under construction killed two workers at Holly Corp's Navajo refinery in Artesia, New Mexico.

http://finance.yahoo.com/news/Factb...Nhc3Q-?x=0&sec=topStories&pos=1&asset=&ccode=

 

[The Imp]

You know what the sad thing is, besides all the death and destruction? These two oil rig failures will help propel the Republicans to the House, the same party that is in bed to a greater extent with big oil.

 

[GinandTonic]

Could be an operational platform.

The platform is a fixed petroleum platform that was in production at the time of the fire, according to a homeland security operational update obtained by The Associated Press.

The update said the platform was producing about 58,800 gallons of oil and 900,000 cubic feet of gas per day. The platform can store 4,200 gallons of oil.

 

[BSmith1068]

You know what the sad thing is, besides all the death and destruction? These two oil rig failures will help propel the Republicans to the House, the same party that is in bed to a greater extent with big oil.

Drill Baby Drill!

 

[The Imp]

American legislators in there great wisdom forced oil companies way out in the ocean to drill for oil, unfortunately at these greater depths oil companies struggle to fix spills (see the recent gulf!).

Allow them to drill closer to the shore and the risks are reduced.

That's a new one, blaming the environmentalists for an environmental disaster. I mean, it isn't like big oil companies have millions of acres of federal, state and private lands open for oil and gas exploration and development onshore in the United States, and millions more acres available for leasing offshore and on the country's outer continental shelf.

I mean, it couldn't possibly be the fault of the free market, with BP simply cutting corners, amiright? Taking ever increasing risks to wring a buck out of the earth while collectivizing the risks?

 

[MobBoss]

Are ecoterrorists going to row their dinghy 80 miles out to sea to do that? Wouldn't they run out of gas in their lighter from all the pot they smoked along the way? What if their matches got soggy?

EDIT: Although Ecofarm isn't busy with this forum anymore, and he lives in Florida... hmmm

Dude, these days eco-terrorists are high tech. Heck, some of them sail half way around the world to throw bags of feces at Japanese whaling boats....

 

[Mr. Dictator]

Why are we even talking about ecoterrorists when there's not a shred of proof?

 

[The Imp]

Why are we even talking about ecoterrorists when there's not a shred of proof?

For some it is ideologically comforting.

 

[civ_king]

Are ecoterrorists going to row their dinghy 80 miles out to sea to do that? Wouldn't they run out of gas in their lighter from all the pot they smoked along the way? What if their matches got soggy?

EDIT: Although Ecofarm isn't busy with this forum anymore, and he lives in Florida... hmmm

or they could use sail boats...

 

[ParadigmShifter]

Dude, these days eco-terrorists are high tech. Heck, some of them sail half way around the world to throw bags of feces at Japanese whaling boats....

Well, a bag of faeces is about as much use as their "scientific research" claim.