Another offshore gulf oil platform explodes!

[Bill Mattocks]

Pray for the workers, and please let this one not be another oil leak.

http://www.nytimes.com/2010/09/03/us/03rig.html

Offshore Oil Platform in the Gulf of Mexico Explodes

By CAMPBELL ROBERTSON and JACK HEALY

Published: September 2, 2010

 

[Empty Hands]

Two things are in our favor. The rig was apparently undergoing maintenance work, and was not doing any active production. The second is that the well is in only 340 feet of water. If a spill does occur, it will be much, much easier to deal with than the Deepwater Horizon.

Perhaps an industry-wide safety review is in order if this explosion was also due to faulty work on a rig sanctioned for safety violations like the Deepwater Horizon.

 

[WC_lun]

At the moment we need oil. That means we drill were there is oil. However, we need to make sure it isn't done recklessly. It isn't like we don't know what is causing a majority of these accidents. The industry has saftey procedures that aren't being followed. It might be time to start making safety a priority among these companies. I know some of the less government crows may yell, but safety violations need to be grounds for huge fines or company shutdowns. When peoples lives are being lost, our economy effected, the ecology being trashed, and the companies themselves being adversly effected, it is time for government to meddle.