Second Oil Rig Explodes in Gulf
The New York Times reports:
NEW ORLEANS — An offshore oil platform exploded in the Gulf of Mexico on Thursday morning, injuring one worker, the U.S." href="http://topics.nytimes.com/top/reference/timestopics/organizations/c/us_coast_guard/index.html?inline=nyt-org">United States Coast Guard said.
The production platform, which was operated by the Houston-based Mariner Energy, was positioned in relatively shallow waters — 340 feet deep — and to the west of where a drilling rig leased by BP blew up and sank this spring, killing 11 people and touching off an environmental calamity.
All 13 members of the work crew on board Thursday were accounted for, the Coast Guard said, though the injured worker’s condition was not immediately known. The crew were pulled from the water by a civilian boat that had been in the area, the Crystal Clear, and taken to a nearby rig, Coast Guard officials said.
Rescuers, who arrived about an hour after receiving reports of the explosion, took the crew to Terrebone General Medical Center in Houma, La.
It was unclear whether the platform was in danger of foundering, or whether the explosion had set off any oil leaks.
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