So much for offshore drilling: Oil rig explodes off Loiusiana

[Karalysia]

ORT FOURCHON, La. - The oil rig that exploded and caught fire off Louisiana has sunk, the Coast Guard said Thursday, while rescue crews continued the search for 11 missing workers.

Coast Guard spokesperson Elizabeth Bordelon told NBC News that the Deepwater Horizon, a semi-submersible rig that sat on pontoons and was anchored to the sea floor, had sunk on Thursday.


Survivors were earlier reunited with their families at a suburban New Orleans hotel.

About 100 workers had made it to a supply boat after Tuesday night's explosion, then were plucked from the Gulf of Mexico by Coast Guard rescuers. After a slow-moving trek across the waters, the workers finally made it ashore at Port Fourchon earlier Thursday where they were checked by doctors and brought to a hotel in suburban New Orleans to awaiting relatives.

"I've seen a lot of things, but I've never seen anything like that," said a visibly tired worker, who declined to give his name as he got in a car to leave.

The rig, where exploratory drilling was being done about 50 miles off the coast of Louisiana, exploded late Tuesday, sending workers scurrying for safety. Seventeen people were injured in the blast and taken to hospitals, four critically, in what could be one of the nation's deadliest offshore drilling accidents of the past half-century.

Coast Guard crews in two cutters have been searching around the clock for the missing, said Coast Guard Lt. Sue Kerver. The air search, which had been called off for the night, resumed Thursday morning.

The rig is owned by Transocean Ltd. and was under contract to oil giant BP.

Authorities could not say when the flames might die out on the 400-by-250-foot rig, which is roughly twice the size of a football field, according the Transocean's website. A column of boiling black smoke rose hundreds of feet over the Gulf of Mexico as fireboats shot streams of water at the blaze. Officials said the damage to the environment appeared minimal so far.

Cause of explosion unknown
Adrian Rose, vice president of Transocean, said the explosion appeared to be a blowout, in which natural gas or oil forces its way up a well pipe and smashes the equipment. But precisely what went wrong was under investigation.

A total of 126 workers were aboard. Seventy-nine were Transocean workers, six were BP employees and 41 were contracted. The Coast Guard said the 17 taken by air or sea to hospitals suffered burns, broken legs and smoke inhalation.

A lawsuit filed Thursday, claimed the companies involved in the blast were negligent.

The lawsuit was filed in New Orleans on behalf of a Mississippi man who worked on the rig and is one of 11 people still missing.

The lawsuit claims Shane Roshto, of Amite County, Miss., was thrown overboard in the explosion and is feared dead.

A Transocean spokesman did not immediately respond to a request for comment and BP wouldn't discuss the suit.

One of the deadliest U.S. offshore drilling accidents was in 1964, when a catamaran-type drilling barge operated by Pan American Petroleum Corp. near Eugene Island, about 80 miles off Louisiana, suffered a blowout and explosion while drilling a well. Twenty-one crew members died. The deadliest offshore drilling explosion was in 1988 about 120 miles off Aberdeen, Scotland, in which 167 men were killed.

Rose said the Deepwater Horizon crew had drilled the well to its final depth, more than 18,000 feet, and was cementing the steel casing at the time of the explosion.

"They did not have a lot of time to evacuate. This would have happened very rapidly," he said.

According to Transocean's website, the rig was built in 2001 in South Korea and is designed to operate in water up to 8,000 feet deep, drill 5½ miles down, and accommodate a crew of 130. It floats on pontoons and is moored to the sea floor by several large anchors.

Workers typically spend two weeks on the rig at a time, followed by two weeks off. Offshore oil workers typically earn $40,000 to $60,000 a year — more if they have special skills.

Working on offshore oil rigs is a dangerous job but has become safer in recent years thanks to improved training, safety systems and maintenance, said Joe Hurt, regional vice president for the International Association of Drilling Contractors.

Since 2001, there have been 69 offshore deaths, 1,349 injuries and 858 fires and explosions in the Gulf, according to the federal Minerals Management Service.

Stanley Murray of Monterey, La., was reunited with his son, Chad, early Thursday morning. His son, an electrician aboard the rig, had ended his shift just before the explosion.

"If he had been there five minutes later, he would have been burned up," a relieved Stanley Murray said.

http://www.msnbc.msn.com/id/36683314/ns/us_news-life/

I don't think we'll be hearing anymore of Obama's offshore drilling proposal now eh?

 

[GenMarshall]

I don't think we'll be hearing anymore of Obama's offshore drilling proposal now eh?

Accidents happen. However, I highly doubt Obama would stop talking about offshore drilling. It's not the first time oil rigs have faced an accident and wont be the last.

 

[civ_king]

Oil Rigs are dangerous!

 

[PeteAtoms]

I didn't read the article, but should we also say bye-bye to hybrid vehicles because some Prius's were defective? (I dunno the plural of "Prius") I agree with CG.

 

[Karalysia]

Clearly none of you have ever heard of floating a proposal. Presidents from time to time float an idea, which they may be considering or not considering at all, to see what kind of reactions it will get, and depending on the reaction they may implement it, or we may never hear of it again. The offshore drilling thing was such a thing, and I doubt we'll hear of it again.

 

[TheAlamo]

Might be eco-terrorism.

 

[GenMarshall]

The United States Government is not in charge of constructing and operating oil rigs Karalysia. Oil Corporations mainly deal with the heavy work of the rigs. You may think were not going to hear it again, but it's gonna happen. People said the same thing about Nuclear Power Plants after Three Mile Island and Chernobyl, yet were experiencing a sort of Nuclear Renaissance with safer reactor designs.

 

[BSmith1068]

TBH I think we will have to wait to see what kind of environmental effects this has. If the spill is effectively contained and does not cause widespread damage, nothing will change in the political discourse.

If we end up with oil slicks on beaches with hundreds/thousands of dead and dying animals on TV, then it might.

 

[Formaldehyde]

The United States Government is not in charge of constructing and operating oil rigs Karalysia. Oil Corporations mainly deal with the heavy work of the rigs. You may think were not going to hear it again, but it's gonna happen. People said the same thing about Nuclear Power Plants after Three Mile Island and Chernobyl, yet were experiencing a sort of Nuclear Renaissance with safer reactor designs.

That's one way to excuse the obvious mistakes of the past while trying to resurrect them in subsequent generations. It's going to be much safer now. Trust us. We are the government and we are here to help you.

http://weblogs.sun-sentinel.com/bus...g/2010/04/study_finds_flaws_in_nuclear_r.html

A study commissioned by 12 groups critical of nuclear power found safety flaws in the design of new nuclear reactors planned for South Florida.

The study, released today by groups that include Citizens Allied for Safe Energy, Green Party of Florida and the Southern Alliance for Clean Energy, examines Westinghouse's AP1000 design. Florida Power & Light plans to use the design for two new nuclear generators planned at its Turkey Point plant near Miami. The plants are estimated to cost $12 billion to $18 billion and produce 2,200 to 3,040 megawatts of electricity.

Arnold Gundersen, of Fairewinds Associates in Burlington, Vt., told reporters today that his study found aspects of the design that make it more likely to get rusty, especially in coastal areas such as Florida. That could lead to holes or cracks in the containment structure, a steel-lined concrete shell around a nuclear reactor that holds in particles after atoms have been split to create energy.

Gunderson found that the containment structures of 77 generators similar to the AP1000 are thinning. Eight have rusted through entirely and have holes in them.

He said the AP1000's steel wall is thicker than the others, but he found, among other things, that it includes parts that attract more moisture than the others so it's more susceptible to rust.

Last year, the Nuclear Regulatory Commission flagged another problem with the design: regulators indicated the shell would not be able withstand forceful winds from hurricanes.

Westinghouse is working to improve the design. We'll let you know what Westinghouse officials say about the study when we hear from them.

Proponents of nuclear power say it's a clean, cheap and reliable source of energy. Nuclear power supplies about a fifth of FPL customers' electricity, helping make their bills lower than those of many other utilities.

But opponents are concerned about costs, safety and possible environmental impacts of nuclear plants. They've criticized the federal energy bill's $54 billion in loan guarantees to boost nuclear power.

“A fraction of that amount could help America move quickly into genuine climate protection through clean, efficient energy," said Mary Olson, of Nuclear Information and Resource Service, an activist group in Maryland that opposes nuclear power.

 

[NBAfan]

Oh no! Now we must stop using oil at one because one rig blew up!

 

[The Imp]

Oh no! Now we must stop using oil at one because one rig blew up!

No, but continuing to drill off the coast for a months worth of oil is certainly a pointless endeavor... except, you know, for the oil companies.

We need to find a replacement as fast as possible while employing what alternatives are available to us at the moment.

 

[JollyRoger]

Oh no! Now we must stop using oil at one because one rig blew up!

Or stop carrying boxcutters on airplanes because of a few bad apples.

 

[civ_king]

Or stop carrying boxcutters on airplanes because of a few bad apples.

or private ownership of machine guns

 

[Merkinball]

It's clear that we just shouldn't have energy period.

 

[Murky]

Might be eco-terrorism.

That's an absurd notion in this case because it's also an ecological disaster. Why would an environmentalist want to cause it?

It would be like starting a forest fire in order to stop logging.

 

[downtown]

If we end up with oil slicks on beaches with hundreds/thousands of dead and dying animals on TV, then it might.

Not too much in the way of beaches down there.

 

[Annex]

That's an absurd notion in this case because it's also an ecological disaster. Why would an environmentalist want to cause it?

It would be like starting a forest fire in order to stop logging.

They already do spike trees to try and stop logging as well as blow up SUV's to prevent pollution (in the process releasing more toxins then the vehicle would create in its lifetime).

 

[GamezRule]

No, but continuing to drill off the coast for a months worth of oil is certainly a pointless endeavor... except, you know, for the oil companies.

How is it a pointless endeavor, if the oil companies can make a profit, I say let the go ahead and drill

 

[Heretic_Cata]

Happy Earth Day everyone

 

[GamezRule]

Happy Earth Day to you too