The Coast Guard today called off the search for 11 workers missing since Tuesday when an oil rig exploded off the coast of Louisiana. Four workers were critically hurt in the blast and more than 100 others escaped without major injuries.
It is still unclear why the state-of-the-art rig Deepwater Horizon, which is leased by BP PLC, blew up. But even before the incident, federal regulators were developing new safety rules for the offshore drilling industry. From 2001 to 2007, 41 deaths and 302 injuries resulted from offshore drilling accidents. Human error was a factor in the majority of these incidents, the Associated Press reports.
Opponents of President Obama’s recent decision to open areas off the Atlantic and Alaskan coasts to new oil drilling said the Louisiana incident raised more concerns about the practice. Secretary of the Interior Ken Salazar said Friday the potential risks and benefits of drilling sites will be weighed before leases are issued, the AP reports.
Coast Guard officials don’t know how much oil has been spilled by the Horizon, but told the AP that a slick covered an area about two miles wide and eight miles long. Thirty-two vessels are attempting to clean it up.
