Emergency measures to stem fire from Louisiana gas rig blowout

HOUSTON -- U.S. Coast Guard and federal officials took added measures late Wednesday to control a fire that erupted on a natural gas rig off the coast of Louisiana after a blowout Tuesday.

Officials from the Bureau of Safety and Environmental Enforcement and the Coast Guard flew over the rig multiple times Wednesday, noting that the derrick and drill floor structure had collapsed over the rig and that natural gas was still flowing.

“A very light sheen that dissipates quickly has been observed in the ocean,” the BSEE noted in a statement released late Wednesday.

The statement said that the crew aboard one of at least two firefighting ships at the rig planned to apply a “water curtain” designed “not to extinguish the fire, but to provide heat protection to the rig.”

Two Coast Guard ships also remained on scene, with staff securing a 500-meter safety zone around the rig and “assessing the changing conditions on the rig,” according to the statement.

The statements said the federal agency expects the site’s owner, Houston-based Walter Oil & Gas Corp., to submit a permit application to drill a relief well.

“The permit, which would include details on the proposed well and the casing and cementing programs, must be approved by BSEE engineers before drilling could commence,” the statement said, adding that the federal agency “continues to review and approve all operational plans and procedures for the response” and that their “priority throughout this operation is the safety of the offshore workers and the protection of the environment.”

The 44 workers aboard the rig were evacuated without injuries after the blowout was reported at 8:45 a.m. Tuesday. The fire erupted at about 10:45 p.m. and has been burning ever since, BSEE staff said. The rig is about 55 miles offshore.

Local officials have said they did not fear the natural gas leak would become as damaging as the 2010 BP oil spill, which devastated the area. That spill began when an oil rig, the Deepwater Horizon, exploded offshore, killing 11 workers and spewing millions of gallons of oil into the Gulf of Mexico.

David Blackmon, a Walter Oil & Gas spokesman, said the company has contracted to bring another rig to the area to potentially drill a relief bore, but that the rig would not likely arrive until late Thursday. He said the gas pocket that is leaking is relatively small, and that if left unchecked, it was likely to burn for days, rather than weeks or months.

He and regulators said it was still unclear late Wednesday what caused the blowout.

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