Natural Gas Rigs Experience Blow-Outs on Land and Sea

Dear Colleagues:

Two well blow-outs on natural gas rigs in the Gulf of Mexico in two weeks? This is outrageous!

After a well blow-out on Tuesday, a fire started and continues to burn out-of-control just 60 miles from the Louisiana shore. The good news is that the 44 crew members were all safely evacuated.

The bad news is that natural gas continues to leak from the well, firefighting vessels have not been able to get close enough to put out the fire ¹, and the well has partially collapsed ².

[As you probably know, natural gas is almost totally "methane" which is a greenhouse gas many times more potent than carbon dioxide.]

Will you tell President Obama that natural gas is another dirty, dangerous fossil fuel?

Natural gas should not play a role in our country’s energy future. If President Obama moves forward with a plan to replace coal with natural gas, it means more fracking in our communities, on our public lands, and off our coasts. Although it is too early tell what kind of environmental damage this well blow-out and fire have caused, we already know the impact of fracking in communities across the country — polluted air, poisoned water, and more climate pollution. Instead of more fracking, we need to double down on clean energy like wind and solar.

Send your message today. Drilling for natural gas, whether on land or in the Gulf of Mexico, is not the solution to meet our country’s energy needs.

Thanks for all that you do and for seriously considering this important matter,

Deb Nardone, Director, Beyond Natural Gas Campaign, U. S. Sierra Club

References:
1. McGill, Kevin. “Gas well in the Gulf continues to burn“, USA Today, 7/24/2013.
2. Fowler, Tom and Snider, Alison. ‘Gas-Drilling Rig Begins to Implode in Gulf of Mexico“, Wall Street Journal, 7/24/2013.

Tagged as: drilling, fracking, Gas Rig Fire, Gulf of Mexico, marcellus shale, natural gas