U.S. government launches investigation into Mariner Energy platform explosion

WASHINGTON, D.C. (BNO NEWS) — The U.S. government on Friday announced it has launched a full investigation into Thursday’s explosion and fire on Mariner Energy’s Vermilion 380 platform in the Gulf of Mexico, off of Louisiana.

The explosion happened around 9.19 a.m. CDT on the oil platform, located about 90 miles south of Vermilion Bay. A total of thirteen people who were on the platform at the time of the accident were safely evacuated from the water by helicopter, although one of the suffered injuries.

Most of the platform was destroyed as a result of the fire, which continued to burn for several hours before it was put out. No leak was found.

The cause of the explosion was not immediately known, and the U.S. House Committee on Energy and Commerce in a letter to Mariner Energy CEO Scott Josey demanded answers about the incident.

“The Committee on Energy and Commerce and its Subcommittee on Oversight and Investigations and Subcommittee on Energy and Environment request a briefing on the incident and its possible causes by Friday, September 10, 2010,” the letter, which was signed by Chairman Henry Waxman and other Committee officials, said.

On Friday, the U.S. Bureau of Ocean Energy Management, Regulation and Enforcement (BOEM) said it had launched a full investigation into the incident. “We are all relieved that the 13 personnel on the platform were rescued safely,” said BOEM Director Michael Bromwich.

“We are continuing to closely monitor this situation, which will be investigated fully. We will use all available resources to ensure that we find out what happened, how it happened, and what enforcement action should be taken if any laws or regulations were violated,” Bromwich continued.

Bromwich has directed members of BOEM’s newly created Investigations and Review Unit to lead the investigation.

The accident came only months after a similar disaster on the BP Deepwater Horizon drilling rig, which resulted in a 6-month suspension involving drilling rigs in deepwater. That accident, however, caused one of the worst environmental disasters in modern history.

Mariner Energy’s 380 platform was authorized to produce oil and gas, as it was located in only 340 feet of water.

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