Breaking News: Oil Platform Explodes Off Louisiana Coast

Map of the Vermilion 380 and Deepwater Horizon explosion sites in the Gulf of Mexico (Source: Associated Press)

The Associated Press reported that Vermilion 380, an offshore oil and gas platform, exploded earlier today in the Gulf of Mexico. The explosion was first reported by a commercial helicopter pilot flying eighty miles south of Vermilion Bay, an inlet of the Gulf of Mexico that marks the westernmost boundary of Louisiana’s Deltaic Plain. Vermilion 380 is a facility owned and operated by Mariner Energy, a Houston-based firm with interests in over three hundred Federal offshore leases.

Early reports suggest that all thirteen people working at the platform have been rescued. However, a mile-long oil sheen has been spotted near the site of the ruptured rig, though it is unclear if that oil is pouring from fuel tanks on the damaged platform, leaking from ships dispatched to deal with the explosion, or gushing up from underneath the surface of the Gulf.

Because the Vermilion 380 explosion occurred further away from the coast and farther west than the Deepwater Horizon incident, this accident may have a much smaller impact on the environment and economy of the Mississippi Delta than the BP oil disaster. Still, because fishermen, platform workers and many others across coastal Louisiana are still dealing with the repercussions of the earlier spill, we’ll be watching to see if the Vermilion 380 explosion has any significant effect on employment indicators and environmental health in the region.