Major oil spill as rig sinks off US
A BLAZING oil rig has sunk into the Gulf of Mexico, sparking fears of an environmental disaster two days after a massive blast that left 11 workers missing. US maritime authorities said crude oil was pouring into the sea at the site where the hulking Deepwater Horizon rig once stood, though they were unable to determine at what rate. In Washington, President Barack Obama said the federal response to the disaster "was being treated as the number one priority,'' the White House said in a statement. Mr Obama "made sure that the entire federal government was offering all assistance needed in the rescue effort as well as in mitigating and responding to the environmental impact,'' the statement read.
Officials said that before the explosion there were 2.6 million litres of diesel fuel on board the semi-submersible platform and it had been drilling 8,000 barrels, or about 1.27 million litres of oil a day.
This is considered a major oil spill,'' said Mike O'Berry, a US Coast Guard senior chief petty officer. Officials said the current spill had the potential to be the worst seen in the United States since the 1989 Exxon Valdez oil tanker spill.
http://www.heraldsun.com.au/news/breaking-news/major-oil-spill-as-rig-sinks-off-us/story-e6frf7jx-1225857582674
Of course none of the RATs are going to notice the fact it took a decade for another oil spill to happen. We’re going to go back to the “scared of our own shadows” days where an oil spill is just waiting to happen every second.