Hit the jump for an aerial picture and some commentary.
UPDATE 6:13PM: The 13 missing workers were found in the water and are ok.
UPDATE 6:17PM: Platform still on fire.
UPDATE 6:34PM: Mariner Energy and Apache Corp cited multiple safety violations this year alone totaling almost one million USD. Source
Just moments ago, the second oil rig in twice as many months has exploded, and there are reports of a mile long sheen of oil stretching from the platform, along with 13 missing workers. US company Mariner Energy is the owner of the platform and denied any reports of an oil leak from the rig. If you remember, BP also denied this fact in their initial assessment 4 months ago, and look where that ended up. The coast guard has since confirmed that there is a leak.
What does this mean for the future of drilling in the Gulf? Honestly, probably nothing. As far as public outcry goes, having two oil platform disasters (depending on the severity of this one) so close to each other in time and geography, will send the hippies into an uproar. Don't get me wrong, I'd like to voice my opinion too, and have been an advocate for non fossil-fuel based power for a very long time (part of that might be from my Father's obsession with it), but at the end of the day, the country is run on oil... for now. The hippies will cry, social media will (read; already has) explode with opinions and pleading, and it will all fall on deaf ears.
I pray for the people living in the Gulf, especially Louisiana, who may potentially have to go through this all over again, before they're recovered from the last disaster. Add this to the rampant hurricanes, and I have a sneaking suspicion that property value in the deep south will start declining in the near future...
Is this the year we see mutant sea creatures rising from the Gulf?
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