By U.S. COAST GUARD
Fire boats battle a fire at the off shore oil rig Deepwater Horizon on April 21 off the coast of Louisiana. Some say that given certain circumstances, some of the oil slick may be seen in the Keys.
Whatever oil leaks from the remains of a deepwater oil-drilling rig that sank Thursday off Louisiana could be headed toward the Florida Keys.
“Everything that goes into the waters of the Gulf of Mexico and comes out will pass through the Florida Keys, and that’s a fact,” said Paul Johnson, a Reef Relief policy advisor who has studied Gulf oil spills.
The extent of the spill from the sinking of the Deepwater Horizon drilling platform remains uncertain.
Late reports from the U.S. Coast Guard Friday afternoon indicate that no oil appeared to be leaking from a well head in the ocean floor, which would be the worst-case scenario.
However, the rig sinking did leave a visible spill, apparently from an estimated 700,000 gallons of oil on the platform as it sank.
“Scattered black oil and sheens continue to extend several miles from the source location,” according to a report from the National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration.
If the well head fails, estimates indicate about 7,500 barrels of crude could leak into the Gulf of Mexico.
“If that oil leaves the gulf, all the oceanographic studies I’ve seen indicate it’s got to come through the Florida Straits,” Johnson said. “If that happens, it winds up on the reef tract.”
Reef Relief has been vocal in its concern about oil drilling’s effect on the Keys coral reef.
“This is about the most worrisome thing that could happen,” Johnson said. “The oil companies all say that it would be a fluke [to get a major spill from an oil platform], but here we are.”
A massive fire broke out aboard the Deepwater Horizon platform late Tuesday. Eleven of the 126 crew members aboard are missing.
A large number of oil-skimming boats were dispatched to the scene. Despite efforts by rescue boats to contain the fire, the rig sank Thursday.
President Obama has proposed opening new areas of the Gulf of Mexico to oil exploration. Initial maps show some of the areas come about 30 miles from the Tortugas Ecological Reserve in the Dry Tortugas, part of the Florida Keys National Marine Sanctuary.
Jane Lubchenco, administrator of the National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration that oversees the sanctuary, was in Key Largo Friday for an Earth Day event showcasing local coral-restoration efforts.