Vermillon Bay offshore oil rig explosion (1:42)
It has happened again: another offshore oil rig has exploded in the Gulf of Mexico. Reports say the Vermillion Bay oil and gas platform exploded and burst into flames on the morning of September 2, 2010. The Associated Press says the platform which is located about 100 miles off the coast of Louisiana, is owned by Mariner Energy of Houston, Texas. CBS News reports that all 13 people on board the platform at the time of the explosion are accounted for - one person reportedly suffered minor injuries.
CNN quotes the U.S. coast guard as saying that they are responding with "full force" and have "have oil spill response assets ready for immediate deployment should we receive any reports of pollution." The Coast Guard said the rig platfom was "fixed" in about 340 feet of water. At the time of the blast, the rig was reportedly not in production. ABC News quotes Coast Guard officials as saying the platform "does not have a standard blow-out preventer," which could seal off the well. On the afternoon of September 2, CNBC quoted Mariner Energy spokesman Patrick Cassidy as saying that "there does not appear to be any oil leaking." ABC News, however, quoted a Coast Guard spokesman as saying a "slight oil sheen" measuring "one nautical mile by 100 feet" was visible in the area.
In his daily briefing on the morning of the Vermillion explosion, White House spokesman Robert Gibbs said the federal government has "response assets ready for deployment, should we receive reports of pollution in the water."
The Vermillion platform is located about 200 miles west of the site of the BP Deepwater Horizon disaster. In April of 2010, a BP-leased drilling rig exploded, killing 11 people and spilling millions of gallons of oil into the Gulf of Mexico.
