The rig, which was floated next to the drilling location, could accommodate up to 130 crew members. The rig was in the Gulf of Mexico in the final phases of drilling a well on April 20 2010, when an explosion occurred on the rig and it caught fire.
Deepwater Horizon sank on April 22, 2010 as a result of the explosion.
Seven workers were airlifted and were then taken to hospital. Support ships sprayed the rig with water in an unsuccessful attempt to put out the flames. Deepwater Horizon sank in water approximately 1500 m deep.
And now crude oil is spewing from the site, which is said to be leaving a "rainbow sheen" of pollution covering a 1 000 square-kilometer area. It is estimated that the rate of oil leaking is approximately 1 000 barrels a day!
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That is pretty crazy - and I am glad I am not BP trying to calm the crazy public outcry towards my company!
ReplyDeleteRay
The environmental impact of the Deepwater Horizon oil rig sinking into the Gulf of Mexico will be felt for years to come. The financial impact is already being felt.
ReplyDeleteAs it sunk, the rig began spilling tens of thousands of gallons of oil into the water per day. Nearly a half-million gallons have already spilled and the toll could be worse than that of the Valdez accident.
Fears are that oil from the well on the sea floor will begin making its way to the surface. Just 41 miles from the coast, the rig is situated so that this incident has brought a lot of business to a halt on the seas, and for those who depend on the Gulf along the shores. As the slick spreads across the Gulf, more and more business is impacted each day. This delay is likely to total in the millions of dollars until the site is cleaned.
And clearly, the impact of sea life in the Gulf is immediate and could be felt for years. Those waters serve as home to numerous fish species and shellfish like shrimp, mussels and oysters we find at markets. Not only is it next to impossible to farm these animals under such conditions, the water quality is sure to be jeopardized by the massive oil spill.
Please read this site for more information on the environmental and economic damages this explosion, fire and spill have caused: http://www.oil-rig-explosions.com/
@Ray. Yip, can’t be a fun time to be in the oil industry.
ReplyDelete@Joshua. Very interesting Joshua, obviously the financial loss will be huge, and will probably snowball as it knocks on to affect different sectors.
I get angry at how man continually rapes the environment in a quest for money and power. Businesses need take more responsibility in their role of protecting the Earth.