Water quality concern as second oil platform explodes

A second oil explosion off the Gulf of Mexico has sparked concern among environmentalists about the water quality in the region.

Yesterday (September 2nd 2010), an oil platform exploded in the Gulf - less than five months after a rig that BP were operating on blew up in the area, causing millions of barrels of oil to leak into the water and killing 11 workers.

Despite the water quality concerns, the Coast Guard has confirmed that no oil leaked from the blast and none of the Mariner Energy staff, who work on the platform, were killed.

White House press secretary Robert Gibbs said there are "response assets ready for deployment should we receive reports of pollution in the water".

Mariner Energy has stated that it does not know the cause of the explosion and it confirmed that it managed to shut down the seven active wells before the fire spread.

This latest spill is likely to anger Greenpeace supporters further after they scaled an oil tanker in the Arctic circle earlier this week, protesting against the danger of drilling oil in the area and reducing the environment's water quality.

Posted by Joseph Hutton