Updated at 1:45 pm CDT – (From MSNBC) – GRAND ISLE, La. — A mile-long sheen is now visible where an offshore petroleum platform exploded and burned Thursday off Louisiana, the Coast Guard said.
Coast Guard Petty Officer Bill Coklough said the sheen, about 100 feet wide, was spotted near the platform owned by Houston-based Mariner Energy Inc.
No one was killed in the explosion, which was spotted by a commercial helicopter flying over the site Thursday morning.
All 13 people aboard the rig were found floating in the water in survival gear, Coast Guard spokesman Chief Petty Officer John Edwards said.
The platform was in about 340 feet of water, considered shallow water and far less than the roughly 5,000 feet where BP’s well spewed oil and gas for three months after an April rig explosion.
The crew were rescued from the water by an offshore service vessel, the Crystal Clear, and taken to a nearby platform, said Coast Guard Cmdr. Cheri Ben-Eisai.
All were being flown to a hospital in Houma to be checked over. Ben-Eisai said one person was injured, but Mariner Energy said there were no injuries.
This is a developing story and we will have more details as they are available.
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I take my hat off to Gov. Jindal and all those people who criticized President Obama for enacting a moratorium on offshore drilling after the BP oil spill.
Putting profit and power before safety and the environment….how’s that working for you?