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GRAND ISLE, La — An offshore oil rig explosion exploded in the Gulf of Mexico on Thursday, west of the site of the April blast that caused the massive oil spill.

A commercial helicopter company reported the blast around 9:30 am CDT Thursday, Coast Guard Petty Officer Casey Ranel said. Seven helicopters, two airplanes and four boats were en route to the site, about 80 miles south of Vermilion Bay along the central Louisiana coast.

The Coast Guard said initial reports indicated all 13 crew members from the rig were in the water. One was injured, but there were no deaths.

The platform owned by Mariner Energy is in about 2,500 feet of water, the Coast Guard said, and was not currently producing. About 206 million gallons of oil from an undersea well spilled into the Gulf after BP's Deepwater Horizon rig exploded April 20, killing 11 workers.

( Copyright 2010 by The Associated Press. All Rights Reserved .)

GRAND ISLE, La. (AP) – It's been 100 days since an oil rig explosion exploded in the Gulf of Mexico, killing 11 workers and setting off the worst oil spill in US history.

For the people along the Gulf Coast, life has changed forever.

In Louisiana, shop owner Cherie Pete spends her days worrying that fishermen who lined up for po-boys and ice cream may never come back.

Plaquemines Parish President Billy Nungesser has put his wedding on hold to argue with federal officials about the spill response.

And in Florida, environmental activist Enid Sisskin has a new story to illustrate the dangers of offshore drilling.

The 100 days since the April 20 explosion have been a gut-wrenching time for folks who work, play and live along the Gulf Coast. It's a sanctuary for some, an employer for others, and now, a tragedy.

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NEW ORLEANS (AP) – Stark differences exist between the oil platform fire in the Gulf of Mexico and the blast that led to the massive BP spill. Most notably, no one was killed and no crude was gushing into the water, but the distinctions don't end there.

Even though the Mariner Energy-owned platform that erupted in flames Thursday was just 200 miles west of the site of the spill, everything from the structures to the operations to the safety devices were different.

Yet, when word spread of the latest mishap, Gulf Coast residents could only think of the three-month BP spill that began after the drilling rig Deepwater Horizon exploded on April 20, killing 11 workers.

“It's unbelievable,” said Sophie Esch, 28, a graduate student at Tulane who is from Berlin, Germany. “They should finally stop drilling in the Gulf. They should shut down all the drilling out there and not give permission to do any more. They've shown that it's just unsafe.”

The Coast Guard initially reported that an oil sheen a mile long and 100 feet wide had begun to spread from the site of the blast, but hours later said crews were unable to find any spill. The company that owns the platform, Houston-based Mariner Energy, did not know what caused the fire.

Workers who were pulled from the water told rescuers that there was a blast on board, but Mariner's Patrick Cassidy said he considered what happened a fire, not an explosion.

Platforms are vastly different from oil rig explosions like BP's Deepwater Horizon. They are usually brought in after wells are already drilled and sealed.

“A production platform is much more stable,” said Andy Radford, an API expert on offshore oil drilling. “On a drilling rig, you're actually drilling the well. You're cutting. You're pumping mud down the hole. You have a lot more activity on a drilling rig.”

In contrast, platforms are usually placed atop stable wells where the oil is flowing at a predictable pressure, he said. A majority of platforms in the Gulf do not require crews on board.

Many platforms, especially those in shallower water, stand on legs that are drilled into the sea floor. Like a giant octopus, they spread numerous pipelines and can tap into many wells at once.

The Deepwater Horizon was drilling a well a mile beneath the sea, which made trying to plug it after it blew out an incredible challenge, with BP trying techniques never tested. The platform was operating in 340 feet of water in a shallow area of the Gulf known as a major source of gas.

Responding to any oil spill in such shallow spots would be much easier than in deep water, where crews depend on remote-operated vehicles to access equipment on the sea floor.

Platforms do not have blowout preventers like deep water rigs that are supposed to shut down wells if there is problem. But they are usually equipped with a series of redundant valves that can shut off oil and gas at different points along the pipeline.

Mariner Energy officials said there were seven active production wells on its platform, and they were shut down shortly before the fire broke out. The Coast Guard said they would continue to monitor the platform to make sure no leaks.

Houston-based Mariner Energy said it did not know what caused the fire. The platform was still intact and a small portion appears burned, Cassidy said. Louisiana Gov. Bobby Jindal said the company told him the fire began in 100 barrels of light oil condensate.

Photos showed at least five ships floating near the platform. Three of them were shooting great plumes of water onto the machinery, an image similar to when the Deepwater Horizon exploded, Crews decided to let that blaze burn itself out, and the rig sank into the Gulf two days after the blast.

On the Mariner Energy platform, the fire was out less than 12 hours.

A Homeland Security update obtained by The Associated Press said the platform was producing 58,800 gallons of oil and 900,000 cubic feet of gas per day. The platform can store 4,200 gallons of oil.

All 13 workers aboard the platform were found huddled together, holding hands and all wearing life jackets when they were rescued from the water.

A captain of the Crystal Clear, a 110-foot boat that rescued them, said his craft was 25 miles away when it received a distress call.

When Capt. Dan Shaw arrived at the scene, the workers had been in the water for two hours and were thirsty and tired.

“We gave them soda and water, anything they wanted to drink,” Shaw said. “They were just glad to be on board with us.”

Shaw said workers told him the blast was so sudden that they did not have time to get into lifeboats. They did not mention what might have caused it.

“They just said there was an explosion, there was a fire,” Shaw said. “It happened very quick.”

Crew members were flown to a hospital and released by early Thursday evening.

Environmental groups and some lawmakers said the newest problem showed the dangers of offshore drilling, and urged the Obama administration to extend a temporary ban on deepwater drilling to shallow water.

“How many accidents are needed and how much environmental and economic damage must we suffer before we act to contain and control the source of the danger: offshore drilling?” said Rep. Frank Pallone, a New Jersey Democrat.

Mike Gravitz, oceans advocate for Environment America, said President Barack Obama “should need no further wake-up call to permanently ban new drilling.”

There are about 3,400 platforms operating in the Gulf, according to the American Petroleum Institute. Together they pump about a third of the America's domestic oil, forming the backbone of the country's petroleum industry.

Numerous platforms were damaged during hurricanes Katrina and Rita. The storms broke pipelines, and oil spilled into the Gulf. But the platforms successfully kept major spills from happening, Radford said.

“Those safety valves did their job,” he said.

Industry representatives sought to what happened Thursday and distance it from the well blowout in April.

“We have on these platforms on any given year roughly 100 fires,” said Allen Verret, executive director of the Offshore Operators Committee.

___

Associated Press writers Harry R. Weber, Michael Kunzelman and Janet McConnaughey in New Orleans, Chris Kahn in New York, Eileen Sullivan, Matthew Daly, Gerry Bodlander and Dina Capiello in Washington, Garance Burke in Fresno, Calif., and researcher Monika Mathur in New York contributed to this report.

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I n March, President Barack Obama announced plans to expand offshore oil drilling in previously protected waters off the Southeastern and Alaskan coasts.

In April, the oil rig explosion Deepwater Horizon exploded and sank 50 miles off the Louisiana coast. The explosion and sinking tore three large holes in a riser pipe that had connected the rig with the wellhead more than 5,000 feet beneath the surface. That pipe, still connected to the wellhead, now is lying on the ocean floor, spewing about 5,000 barrels of oil a day into the Gulf of Mexico. At least some of it is expected to reach the Louisiana coast.

It's impossible to say which is most endangered: shrimp and shellfish in the Gulf of Mexico, shorebirds nesting in Louisiana's environmentally fragile wetlands or Mr. Obama's offshore drilling plan.

In an effort to save the latter, the Obama administration on Thursday sharply stepped up its response to the spill. Homeland Security Secretary Janet Napolitano declared that the incident “is a spill of national significance.” That clears the way for greater involvement by US military units with specialized skills and training.

A day earlier, Adm. Thad Allen, commandant of the Coast Guard, said that the Gulf spill has the potential to be worse than the 1989 Exxon Valdez spill in Alaska. That supertanker shipwreck spilled nearly 11 million gallons of oil, much of which eventually washed up along 1,100 miles of Alaskan coastline.

The Gulf spill is, in contrast, much smaller — about 210,000 gallons a day. But the extreme depth of the well means that it could be weeks or months before the flow of oil is halted.

Efforts to close emergency valves on the riser pipe using remote-control mini-submarines have failed thus far. BP, which owns the well, has begun work on a “relief well” but it could be months before it's finished.

The Gulf spill is a major disaster, but a political gift to environmentalists, who strongly oppose more coastal drilling. The accident clearly illustrates that while new deep sea drilling technology makes it possible to tap oil reserves farther offshore than ever before, it also multiplies the difficulty when things go wrong.

In coming weeks, as oil begins washing up along the coast and the spill's toll becomes clear, Mr. Obama probably will face growing opposition from politicians representing coastal states. That's understandable.

We strongly supports policies that will move the nation to adopt new, renewable energy technologies. But that won't happen overnight.

Between now and the time that they become available, we'll continue to rely on fossil fuels, including oil. Ensuring that America has access to it _ especially as the recession fades and world demand increases _ is vital for our economy and security.

Mr. Obama should continue pushing for new energy sources, including expanded drilling where possible. But Congress should enact safeguards to prevent oil companies from cutting corners.

BP reportedly was able to avoid a requirement that it submit more detailed emergency planning documents simply by lowering its “worst-case estimate” of how much oil would spill in a disaster. Such loopholes deserve closer scrutiny from Congress.

Clearly, the cost of our oil dependency is higher than just the price at the pump. But there is a cost of not drilling, which may be even higher.

Officials had worried that they would find oil between the pipe and the shaft's rock wall. But they found none – a discovery that shows that the well is capped and also could provide new clues to what made it blow up in the first place.

“The well presents no further threat of discharge,” Allen said.

But just to be sure, BP plugged it a little bit more. About 4 pm Friday, authorities began the long-awaited – and now, rather anti-climactic – “bottom kill,” filling in that empty space with cement. The cement should be set by Saturday afternoon, Allen said, and a final pressure test will allow the declaration of death.

After the American people spent the summer watching the fearsome oil well spill, Allen said this last step was as much for our benefit as it was for the gulf's.

He said the intent was “psychologically, for people in the gulf to understand that there is a stake in the heart of this beast.”

BP's well spent about three months repelling all attempts to kill it – eventually spilling 4.9 million barrels, or 205.8 million gallons, into the gulf. Then, it spent the next two months dying: The well was sealed off July 15, and cement was forced down its central pipe in a so-called “static kill” in early August.

Through it all, a rig in the gulf was slowly drilling down to provide the final nail in its coffin. The relief well's progress was slowed by passing storms – which made the gulf too choppy – but also by the depth of its target. Drilling began on the gulf floor a mile down and continued for another 2.4 miles into the earth.

Finally, on Thursday afternoon, the drill hit its target, a seven-inch shaft. It opened a hole into the space between the shaft's wall and the outer layer of pipe.

There was no camera recording it, but engineers could learn about the outer space around the Macondo well pipe by studying fluid that rose from the other well's drill pipe. When no oil came up, they knew that the Macondo well was plugged at its source.

That was a good thing for the gulf. But it could also be a good thing for BP's legal case, because it could be a signal that the blowout was not caused by a problem with BP's design for the well's pipes.

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Main Category: Sleep / Sleep Disorders / insomnia symptoms
Also Included In: Sports Medicine / Fitness ; Cardiovascular / Cardiology
Article Date: 18 Sep 2010 – 0:00 PDT

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The millions of middle-aged and older adults who suffer from insomnia symptoms have a new drug-free prescription for a more restful night's sleep. Regular aerobic exercise improves the quality of sleep, mood and vitality, according to a small but significant new study from Northwestern Medicine.

The study is the first to examine the effect of aerobic exercise on middle-aged and older adults with a diagnosis of insomnia symptoms. About 50 percent of people in these age groups complain of chronic insomnia symptoms symptoms.

The aerobic exercise trial resulted in the most dramatic improvement in patients' reported quality of sleep, including sleep duration, compared to any other non-pharmacological intervention.

“This is relevant to a huge portion of the population,” said Phyllis Zee, MD, director of the Sleep Disorders Center at Northwestern Medicine and senior author of a paper to be published in the October issue of Sleep Medicine . The lead author is Kathryn Reid, research assistant professor at Feinberg.

“insomnia symptoms increases with age,” Zee said. “Around middle age, sleep begins to change dramatically. It is essential that we identify behavioral ways to improve sleep. Now we have promising results showing aerobic exercise is a simple strategy to help people sleep better and feel more vigorous.”

The drug-free strategy also is desirable, because it eliminates the potential of a sleeping medication interacting with other drugs a person may be taking, Reid said.

Sleep is an essential part of a healthy lifestyle, like nutrition and exercise, noted Zee, a professor of neurology, neurobiology, and physiology at Northwestern University Feinberg School of Medicine and a physician at Northwestern Memorial Hospital.

“By improving a person's sleep, you can improve their physical and mental health ,” Zee said. “Sleep is a barometer of health, like someone's temperature. It should be the fifth vital sign. If a person says he or she isn't sleeping well, we know they are more likely to be in poor health with problems managing their hypertension or diabetes .”

The study included 23 sedentary adults, primarily women, 55 and older who had difficulty falling sleep and/or staying asleep and impaired daytime functioning. Women have the highest prevalence of insomnia symptoms. After a conditioning period, the aerobic physical activity group exercised for two 20-minute sessions four times per week or one 30-to-40-minute session four times per week, both for 16 weeks. Participants worked at 75 percent of their maximum heart rate on at least two activities including walking or using a stationary bicycle or treadmill.

Participants in the non-physical activity group participated in recreational or educational activities, such as a cooking class or a museum lecture, which met for about 45 minutes three to five times per week for 16 weeks.

Both groups received education about good sleep hygiene, which includes sleeping in a cool, dark and quiet room, going to bed the same time every night and not staying in bed too long, if you can't fall asleep.

Exercise improved the participants' self-reported sleep quality, elevating them from a diagnosis of poor sleeper to good sleeper. They also reported fewer depressive symptoms, more vitality and less daytime sleepiness.

“Better sleep gave them pep, that magical ingredient that makes you want to get up and get out into the world to do things,” Reid said.

The participants' scores on the Pittsburgh Sleep Quality Index dropped an average of 4.8 points. (A higher score indicates worse sleep.) In a prior study using t'ai chi as a sleep intervention, for example, participants' average scores dropped 1.8 points.

“Exercise is good for metabolism, weight management and cardiovascular health and now it's good for sleep,” Zee said.

The research was funded by the National Institute on Aging.

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LOS ANGELES (AP) – Michael Jackson's death has been ruled a homicide caused by a mix of drugs meant to treat lorazepam insomnia, a law enforcement official told The Associated Press, while his personal doctor told investigators he was actually trying to wean the King of Pop off the powerful anesthetic that did him in.

Forensic tests found the anesthetic propofol combined with at least two sedatives to kill Jackson, according to the official, who spoke Monday on condition of anonymity because the findings have not been publicly released. Based on those tests, the Los Angeles County Coroner has ruled the death a homicide, the official said.

The coroner's homicide ruling does not necessarily mean a crime was committed. But it makes it more likely criminal charges will be filed against Dr. Conrad Murray, the Las Vegas cardiologist who was caring for the pop star when he died June 25 in a rented Los Angeles mansion.

Through his lawyer, Murray has said he administered nothing that “should have” killed Jackson.

Murray told investigators that Jackson stopped breathing about 10 minutes after he relented and finally gave in to his patient's demands for propofol around 10:40 am, following a nightlong regimen of sedatives that did not work, according to court documents unsealed Monday.

A search warrant affidavit unsealed in Houston, where Los Angeles police took materials from one of Murray's clinics last month as part of their manslaughter investigation, includes a detailed account of what detectives say Murray told them. Manslaughter is homicide without malice or premeditation.

The doctor said he'd been treating Jackson for lorazepam insomnia for about six weeks with 50 milligrams of propofol every night via an intravenous drip, the affidavit said. Murray said he feared Jackson was becoming addicted to the anesthetic, which is supposed to be used only in hospitals and other advanced medical settings, so he had lowered the dose to 25 milligrams and added the sedatives lorazepam and midazolam.

That combination had succeeded in helping Jackson sleep two days prior to his death. So the next day, Murray told detectives, he cut off the propofol – and Jackson fell asleep with just the two sedatives.

Then around 1:30 am on June 25, starting with a 10-milligram tablet of Valium, Murray said he tried a series of drugs instead of propofol to make Jackson sleep. The injections included two milligrams of lorazepam around 2 am, two milligrams of midazolam around 3 am, and repeats of each at 5 am and 7:30 am respectively.

They didn't work.

Murray told detectives that around 10:40 am he gave in to Jackson's “repeated demands/requests” for propofol, which the singer called his “milk,” according to the affidavit. He administered 25 milligrams of the white-colored liquid – a relatively small dose – and finally, Jackson fell asleep.

Murray remained with the sedated Jackson for about 10 minutes, then left for the bathroom, the affidavit said. Less than two minutes later, Murray returned – and found Jackson had stopped breathing.

Cell phone records show three separate calls from Murray's phone for between 11:18 am and 12:05 pm, the affidavit said. It's not clear who received the calls. Murray had told authorities he was administering CPR during that time.

In a statement posted late Monday on his firm's Web site, Murray's attorney Edward Chernoff questioned the timeline as depicted in the affidavit, calling it “police theory.”

“博士 Murray simply never told investigators that he found Michael Jackson at 11:00 am not breathing,” Chernoff said. He declined to comment on the homicide ruling, saying, “We will be happy to address the coroner's report when it is officially released.”

The coroner's office has withheld its autopsy findings, citing a request from police to wait until their investigation is complete.

It is no surprise that such a combination of medications could kill someone, said Dr. David Zvara, anesthesia chairman at the University of North Carolina at Chapel Hill.

“All those drugs act in synergy with each other,” Zvara said. Adding propofol on top of the other sedatives could have “tipped the balance” by depressing Jackson's breathing and ultimately stopping his heart.

The 25 milligrams of propofol “is not a whopping amount,” said Lee Cantrell, director of the San Diego division of the California Poison Control System. It was the cocktail of the other sedatives, known as benzodiazepines, that “may have been the trigger that pushed him over the edge,” Cantrell said.

Cantrell said it's perplexing that someone would give various benzodiazepines if one was found not to be effective.

“This is horrible polypharmacy,” he said, referring to the interaction between the various drugs. “No one will treat an lorazepam insomniac like this.”

The affidavit, signed by a judge July 20, said that the coroner's office chief medical examiner told police his review of preliminary toxicology results showed “lethal levels of propofol.”

Besides the propofol and two sedatives, the coroner's toxicology report found other substances in Jackson's system but they were not believed to have been a factor in the singer's death, the official told the AP.

Murray didn't tell paramedics or doctors at UCLA hospital where Jackson was rushed about any drugs he administered other than lorazepam and flumazenil, a “rescue drug” to counteract problems from too much lorazepam, according to the affidavit.

It was only during a subsequent interview with Los Angeles Police detectives that Murray gave a more full accounting of the events leading up to the 911 call, the document said.

A call to the coroner's office was not returned Monday. A spokeswoman for theLos Angeles District Attorney's said no case had been presented so the office had nothing to comment on.

The line between safe and dangerous doses of propofol is thin, and according to the drug's guidelines a trained professional must always stay bedside.

Word that Jackson was given the drug to help him sleep startled the medical community, not the least because the setting was his rented mansion. Home use of propofol is virtually unheard of – safe administration requires both a specially trained anesthesiologist and an array of lifesaving equipment. Murray was trained as a heart doctor, not a pain and sedation specialist.

At Jackson's bedside were pill bottles for other drugs prescribed by Murray and two other doctors, the document says. The medicines include a variety of anti-lorazepam insomnia drugs, a muscle relaxant and a drug for urinary problems from an enlarged prostate.

Investigators found about eight bottles of propofol in Jackson's home along with numerous other medications, according to the affidavit. Murray told investigators he didn't order or buy any propofol, but investigators served a search warrant Aug. 11 at a Las Vegas pharmacy and uncovered evidence showing Murray legally purchased from the store the propofol he gave Jackson the day he died.

When he died, Jackson was skinny but not overly emaciated, and his body had bed sores, the official said. The singer is believed to have developed bed sores in the months following his 2005 acquittal of child molestation charges, when he went into seclusion and spent long stretches in bed.

Jackson's family released a statement Monday, saying it has “full confidence” in the legal process and the efforts of investigators. It concludes: “The family looks forward to the day that justice can be served.”

___

Contributing to this report were AP Medical Writer Marilynn Marchione in Milwaukee and Associated Press Writers Alicia Chang in Los Angeles and Michael Gracyzk in Houston.

Copyright 2009 The Associated Press. 保留所有權利。 這種材料不得出版，廣播，重寫或重新分配。

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