A rig explosion leaves a vast oil slick, threatening America’s gulf coast
THERE was a fire, an explosion and now a dark slick of oil disfigures the Gulf of Mexico like a bruise. The problems on the Deepwater Horizon oil rig, 41 miles (66km) off the Louisiana coast, began on Tuesday April 20th. The next morning officials reported that 11 of the 126 workers on the rig were missing. Two days later the rig sank and the Coast Guard called off the search for survivors.
Expert opinion, based on underwater scans, was that the sunken rig had not sprung a leak. But in the murky depths it is hard to get a clear picture. By Sunday it had become apparent that the experts were wrong. Oil is still gushing into the sea at a rate of 42,000 gallons (or 1,000 barrels) a day. And by Monday the slick measured 80 miles across and 42 miles from north to south in some places, with the western part 36 miles from Louisiana's coast.
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