Workers safe after fire in Gulf BATON ROUGE -- Quick action Thursday extinguishing a fire on an oil production platform in the Gulf of Mexico averted what was initially feared to be a possible second environmental disaster in four months.
But unlike the British Petroleum explosion, the problem on Mariner Energy's Vermilion 308 platform did not involve any oil production and instead involved materials stored topside. And although a bright sheen was initially reported, an hour later no sign of it was found in a fly-over.
Three Coast Guard boats with high-pressure firefighting equipment extinguished the blaze 100 miles off the coast of Vermilion Parish.
Thirteen workers on the Vermilion 308 platform escaped the fire by donning floating suits and jumping into the Gulf of Mexico. Photos show them floating in a chain, arms linked, as they awaited rescue. They were transported to Terrebonne General Hospital in Houma to be checked out and then were released.
Gov. Bobby Jindal visited the crew in Houma and reported, "The workers and families I met with were all very happy to have a positive outcome to this incident, and everyone in Louisiana is certainly able to breathe easier now that we know these men are all safe and uninjured.
"While our first priority is the safety and well-being of the workers, we are also glad to learn from the Coast Guard and Mariner Energy that the platform does not appear to be leaking," the governor said.
"The Coast Guard continues to check valves on the platform to ensure that it has been completely shut in. All of our state agencies continue to coordinate with the Coast Guard to keep updated on the situation and supply any response resources that may be needed."
Jindal said "two of the workers I met with were from Louisiana, and they told me that 12 of them got life jackets, but they were unable to reach one because it was too close to the fire so some of the workers held one of the men up in the water, which is probably why one worker was thought to be injured when seen from far away."
Jindal said at an afternoon press conference that Mariner Energy officials told him that all seven of the producing oil and gas wells serviced by the production platform had been shut down immediately after the explosion. The cause of the fiery blast had yet to be determined.
The Coast Guard was alerted to the problem by a 9:19 a.m. call from another platform and by a helicopter pilot. Dark smoke billowed from the site.
Shutting off the flow and getting the fire under control was "a big step forward" in assuring safety, the governor said.
, but from his experience with the BP explosion and massive spill, he would not just take the company's word for it.
BP officials at first said no oil was leaking and later greatly underestimated the flow from the Macondo well.
"We continue to be cautious," Jindal said, and his attitude is "trust, but verify."
The Coast Guard early Thursday reported a 100-feet-wide, mile-long sheen on the water but later said nothing could be found.
Mariner Energy said condensate, a liquid hydrocarbon that is withdrawn from natural gas, was being stored on the platform, and it appeared that was the source of the blaze.
Liquid propane, one of the primary hydrocarbons in condensate, evaporates quickly, so that would explain why the sheen disappeared, according to the Louisiana Mid-Continent Oil and Gas Association.
Scott Angelle, secretary of the Department of Natural Resources and now acting as lieutenant governor, said this is one of "thousands" of production platforms in the Gulf. "Some are manned, some are unmanned."
Angelle said he received a report that the 13 workers were doing maintenance work on the platform when the explosion occurred.
DNR records show 1,700 production facilities within Louisiana coastal waters, which extend three miles from shore.
More than 3,700 platforms are scattered about the Gulf of Mexico, the ninth largest body of water in the world covering about 600,000 square miles.
