A rupture in an undersea gas pipeline in the Gulf of Mexico caused a fire that surfaced in the Gulf waters on Friday. The fire went on for hours, creating a biblical scene that was compared to Mordor from the 'Lord of the Rings'.
Mexico's state-owned oil company, Petroleos Mexicanos (Pemex), said that fire control boats were dispatched pumping more water over the flames in an attempt to put out the fire. No one was injured according to reports.
The leak took place in the early hours of Friday, approximately 150 yards away from the drilling platform. Five hours later, the company reported that the gas leak was under control.
The accident however caused a wild rise of flames that were boiling up from below the surface of the Gulf's waters.
"The ocean is on fire” is one of those things that you can type and it’s true and yet it doesn’t feel believable https://t.co/EouJfQIbjq
— Brian Kahn (@blkahn) July 2, 2021
The environmental impact that the gas leak and oceanic fireball caused remains unknown.
Oceans program director for the Center for Biological Diversity, Miyoko Sakashita, said that:
"The frightening footage of the Gulf of Mexico is showing the world that offshore drilling is dirty and dangerous."
He added:
"These horrific accidents will continue to harm the Gulf if we don't end offshore drilling once and for all."
[h/t: Washington Post]
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