Four people were rushed to a hospital Friday after an oil rig exploded in the Gulf of Mexico some 17 miles southeast of Grand Isle, La., the U.S. Coast Guard told NBC News. Jefferson Parish Councilman Chris Roberts told WWL-TV that the rig is a shallow water platform near West Cote Blanche Bay. It was not known if the fire had caused a spill. The Coast Guard activated a command center to investigate. The rig is not drilling at a deep water site like the Macondo well that blew out in 2010. That disaster led to an explosion that killed 11 workers and caused the worst offshore oil spill in U.S. history. Read more: http://usnews.nbcnews.com/_news/201...co-2-people-missing-4-rushed-to-hospital?lite
Man, the Gulf continues to get hit with disaster. Grand Isle is a beautiful place, and I always worry that it won't exist anymore 10-20 years from now. Aside from human involvement, there's very serious coastal erosion effecting the area. Hopefully, I can take my future kids to the place that was special to me in my collegiate years, but honestly, it doesn't look like the area will survive that long.