McCain: "The fish love to be around those rigs" ( Archived) (73)

First off the type of platform has nothing to do with the mercury... it´s the chemicals they use when drilling..."drilling muds" which include toxic substances including barium, chromium and arsenic are used to maintian the pressure... you need to have equal pressure going down the well to balance what is coming up.

Secondly...Just in case you think I´m still nit picking...

Offshore operators have had 40 spills greater than 1,000 barrels since 1964, including 13 in the last 10 years, according to data from the U.S. Minerals Management Service, which oversees exploration and production in federal waters.

Despite the industry's technological improvements and safety planning, offshore operators have struggled to cope with the hurricanes that blow through the Gulf of Mexico. Seven of the 13 recent larger spills were hurricane related.

From 1998 through 2007, offshore producers released an average of 6,555 barrels of oil a year, according to the Minerals Management Service, which tracks spills of 50 barrels or more. That was 64 percent more than the annual average during the previous 10-year period, but it includes years with extraordinary hurricane activity.

Because of Katrina and Rita, 2005 became the worst year for oil spills since 1988. The government is still monitoring seepage related to that storm damage.

Last year, the industry spilled 2,256 barrels of oil, fuels and chemicals, and during the first half of this year, offshore operators are on a similar course, having spilled 1,114 barrels in five incidents.

Over the past 40 years, oil companies have drilled thousands of wells across the western and central gulf, and there are now about 3,800 offshore structures there. Texas, Louisiana, Mississippi and Alabama have been willing to overlook the trash and tar in exchange for cash and jobs.

Frank Gallander, Chevron Corp.'s adviser on subsea operations, drilling and completions, said offshore critics "want absolutes, and there aren't any."


Just in case you think I´m still nit picking...