Burning rig sinks in Gulf of Mexico

[Bozita]

Source: CNN

Burning rig sinks in Gulf of Mexico
By the CNN Wire Staff
April 22, 2010 1:51 p.m. EDT


(CNN) -- An oil rig that has been burning in the Gulf of Mexico for more than a day has sunk, the U.S. Coast Guard said Thursday.

Lt. Cmdr. Cheri Ben-Iesau of the Coast Guard announced this latest development as the search continued for 11 workers who have been missing since an explosion on the rig Tuesday night off the Louisiana coast.

Crude oil was leaking from the rig at the rate of about 8,000 barrels per day, Coast Guard Petty Officer Ashley Butler said. The Coast Guard also is preparing for possible leaks of up to 700,000 gallons of diesel fuel but can do little to protect the environment until the fire is out, Butler said.

An investigation was under way to determine what caused the blast about 10 p.m. Tuesday aboard the Deepwater Horizon oil rig.

Read more: http://www.cnn.com/2010/US/04/22/oil.rig.explosion/index.html?hpt=T1

[liberal N proud]

1. If the rig sank, is there still fire?

They say they can do little until the fire is out. Is the oil burning on the surface?

[ChairmanAgnostic]

2. the pipes cannot be closed now, so the leaks continue.

Once ignited, they stay ignited.

[liberal N proud]

4. Leaking oil into the gulf and further damaging the environment

[BrklynLiberal]

15. Let's see now how many of those Blue, "Drill Baby Drill" States want it off THEIR shore now!!

[Tippy]

6. Does anyone know if this was a producing well or

were they just drilling?

[ChairmanAgnostic]

9. exploration, apparently, equiped with auto shut off valves,

which are supposed to engage when too free of a flow is reached.

Obviously, they are not working.

[meeshrox]

16. They were between drill stems...

They had just cased the interval they drilled and were cementing...

[Aristus]

3. How's that 'drill, baby, drill' shit working out for ya!

:eyes:

When you get back on shore, remember to wipe your feet, shitheads...

[Name removed]

5. Deleted message

Message removed by moderator. Click here to review the message board rules.

[AtheistCrusader]

7. Hey, let's blame the dead, blue collar workers. That's a great idea.

[truthisfreedom]

8. I hope you mean the executives.

[Aristus]

20. I did. Meaning is meaningless without articulation. It was perceived as a bash against the workers.

It wasn't.

It was a bash against the "drill, baby, drill!" idiots...

[Javaman]

10. Good thing that the Gulf is a dead zone, right?

Right?

it looks like we humans enjoy the slow death.

[liberal N proud]

11. Photo of rig before explosion:

Looks innocent enough if you are clueless about the true purpose of these things

Here is this AM before it sank:

[thereismore]

12. Well then! The fire is out, what's the problem.

:sarcasm:

[demigoddess]

13. if this is such a precious, needed commodity why do not the owners and managers

do better with safety precautions to keep these things from happening. Seems that oil refinery fires and oil rig fires are a wasteful thing and businesses don't seem to be doing enough to keep them from happening.

[RainMickey]

24. They were drilling, they apparently took a "kick" which means they...

...drilled through a pocket of high pressure gas or oil. Kicks are usually brought under control by increasing the mud weight. Sometimes the kick is so strong it overpowers the entire system and they lose control. It's rare, but it happens.

Producing oil and gas from 5,000 - 10,000 feet of water is dangerous work. Enjoy your car.

[BrklynLiberal]

14. This is not the end of the problems...it is just the beginning.

Merely one more example of why off-shore drilling is such a FABULOUS idea!!!! :sarcasm:

Dead employees, seriously burned employees, leaking oil into Gulf waters which will have very negative long-term effects, smoke pollution from fire, and I would guess there are a few I missed.

[Odin2005]

17. Drill, baby, drill!!!

:sarcasm:

[meeshrox]

18. From msn.com this morning:

"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."

http://www.msnbc.msn.com/id/36683314/ns/us_news-life/?GT1=43001

I guess someone needs to direct Mr. McCain and his followers to this information. Link provided out of courtesy, but no new info there other than what I quoted...

I would also like to note that the process of drilling uses petroleum-based lubricants. During the drilling process, these chemicals are pumped down the hole to the drill bit to keep it lubed up. But, there is no collection of the chemicals to recirculate. They escape out of the hole at the seafloor. Also, if they are in a producing formation, the natural gas/oil leaks out of the hole into the sea until they are finished casing/cementing (I would guess that the rate varies depending on the depth and geology). I oversee the drilling of public supply water wells and know enough about drilling to stay out of trouble.

I am appalled when I think that they use the same messy process for oil with no/little containment. Hey, at least when we hit water, it's not a pollutant!

[tomm2thumbs]

19. great information - thank you

i guess what happens at the bottom of the ocean, stays at the bottom of the ocean, polluting everything slowly and thoroughly. Maybe McCain would be fine drinking from a pitcher of water that someone has dropped a nice big turd to the bottom of - afterall, it is wayyyy on the bottom. I would highly doubt it, but maybe someone can take him up on it.

[safeinOhio]

21. Oil companies and their investors make the profit

they need to pay for every penny of damage.

[2Design]

22. drilll baby drill - it is earth day and we are destroying it as fast as we can n/t

[gov for sale]

23. Plenty of disasters to come due vast expanses opening for exploration

Less than a month after a completely BS proposal to open vast expanses on the Atlantic Coast, North Coast of Alaska, and Eastern Gulf to off shore drilling... and on Earth Day no less. Just in case you're unclear on whose interest are being served by that BS proposal, take a good look at the oily sheen coming off our once healthy fisheries, recreational beaches, and scenic coast! What the hell are they doing to us? :shrug:

[Strelnikov_]

25. The plot thickens

Coast Guard says blast reported aboard sunken oil rig 3 hours before big fire

http://www.startribune.com/business/91800414.html?elr=KArksLckD8EQDUoaEyqyP4O:DW3ckUiD3aPc:_Yyc:aUUJ#

A crew member from an oil platform that sank off the Louisiana coast Thursday reported an initial explosion three hours before the rig went up in flames in a second, larger explosion, the Coast Guard said.

Coast Guard Senior Chief Petty Officer Mike O'Berry told The Associated Press that according to their internal reports, the first blast was reported at 7 p.m. CDT Tuesday. Three hours later, the rig sent an emergency signal that's "like a panic button," he said.

At the same time, a nearby rig called to report the Deepwater Horizon was engulfed in flames, O'Berry said. The rig did not ask for help during the initial call, but the Coast Guard sent crews after the emergency signal came.

The Coast Guard is investigating what happened during that span. "That three-hour window is obviously stuff being investigated — what happened during that time," O'Berry said.