'Ocean Saratoga': A second leaking oil well?
A second rig may be spewing crude into the Gulf of Mexico. How concerned should we be?
There's a "new" oil leak in the Gulf of Mexico, according the federal government. The second, much smaller leak, originating from the Ocean Saratoga rig only 40 miles from the Deepwater Horizon spill, has reportedly been releasing small amounts of oil — about a half-barrel per day — into Gulf waters since 2004, when the well was damaged by Hurricane Ivan. (The rig's owner, Diamond Offshore, denies the existence of a leak.) This report proves we need "public, transparent monitoring everywhere offshore drilling is going on in U.S. waters," says John Amos, president of Skytruth.org, a nonprofit environmental group. Maybe so, says Michael Reilly in Discovery News, but keep in mind that a "million-plus barrels of oil" flow naturally into the sea every year. So, let's not blow this out of proportion. Watch video of the Ocean Saratoga oil slick:
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