Oil rig sinks in the Gulf of Mexico
On Tuesday, April the 20th an oil rig off the coast of the USA in the Gulf of Mexico exploded. The cause of the accident is being investigated but it is thought that workers on the rig incorrectly capped the well. The explosion killed 11 men. The rig sunk two days later and the well continues to spew an estimated 760,000 liters of oil into the sea each day.
Efforts are being made to contain the oil but conditions have been difficult for the rescue teams. The sea has been too rough and the winds too strong to burn off the oil, suck it up or keep it contained within the inflatable booms that they put out on top of the water. These barriers broke loose in the choppy water and the oil went over them. The biggest problem is that many birds and fish will lose their habitats as the oil destroys the environment that they live in.
The priority for the USA is to shut off the well and to stop the leaking oil. They hope to move another rig close to the well and use this to inject concrete to prevent the flow of oil. If that fails the plan is to build a container over each of the three leaks to trap the oil, allowing it to be pumped up to container ships on the surface.
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