Oil spill from BP explosion spreads in Gulf of Mexico
An oil spill caused by last week’s deadly explosion on a British Petroleum (BP) oil rig in the Gulf of Mexico is spreading toward the coast of Louisiana, threatening fisheries, beaches and numerous species. The April 20 explosion on the BP-contracted rig, Deepwater Horizon, took the lives of 11 workers and critically injured four more. It was caused by a blowback when a mud sealant applied to the drill hole on the seabed likely failed to seal. Oil then forced its way up the drill bore blowing apart machinery and igniting a fire that lasted two days, eventually collapsing the rig, which was operating in 5,000 feet of water. Louisiana’s coastal waters and its vast Mississippi Delta contain about 40 percent of US wetlands and are home to nesting and spawning areas for hundreds of species of birds and fish. The area of the spill is also the habitat for a pod of sperm whales. “If some of the weather conditions continue, the Delta area is at risk,” said Charlie Henry of the National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration. This Can't Be Happening!: Murphy's Law and the Stupidity of Obama's Drill-Drill-Drill Offshore Oil Policy.