Is there off shore oil rigs off the coast of Mississippi? (Gulfport: leases, house)

[SunnyKayak]

I live in North Carolina and I am concern about the enviromental impact of off shore oil rigs if North Carolina decides to go with them.

I havent drawn a conclusion if I will be ok with it or not if North Carolina does decide to set these up since I am not really familiar with what all is involved enviromentally and physically near the area of the rig?

Does Mississippi have them and what impact has it had to the area near the rig? Is there a setback rule for the rigs like fifty miles away from shore? and is that viewable from a beach?
Does it effect marine life? extra cargo boat traffic? has there been any major accidents?

Im not looking for political discussion in this thread but more on the impact a rig will have on the region it is located in.

[darylwi]

I know that a few companies own leases in federal waters off of Mississippi's coast, but I don't know if there are any rigs up. I'm pretty sure there are none in MS territorial waters.
If you want to know about impacts, ask someone in Louisiana. Louisiana's coast has been all but destroyed by the oil and gas industry. But we opened up drilling along our coastline many years ago. There were no regs on channel construction or erosion control. We're paying for it now, but I imagine anyone else looking to get into the business has plenty to learn from looking at Louisiana. A majority of the new leases that are sold and being produced are offshore. Our largest state oil reserves are off the south east coast near the mouth of the river. Natural gas is the main product across the remainder of our coast and into Texas.
From what few beaches Louisiana has, you can see the rigs from the beach. It's both awe inspiring and scary if you think about it. The water is dirty, but we have a mostly alluvial coast as well, lots of sedimentation. There is a lot of increased crew boat traffic. We have a lot of transoceanic traffic as well because we do have a major petroleum port (several actually). Aside from rare accidents, I don't know if the rigs are really detrimental to marine wildlife, although we have other problems like Red Tide from the River mostly, and most of that is agricultural from the midwest. Offshore fishing is actually enhanced by the presence of the rigs. For the most part, I believe the operators are only allowed to dump off some saltwater waste byproducts into the ocean. Everything else is barged onshore for disposal. That will be something else NC will have to manage.
Personally, I think offshore drilling can be fine assuming it's regulated correctly.

[Muhnay]

Yes there is.. and there is good money to be had as a cook out at one of them. I almost took a job in the kitchen of one oil rig while in Gulfport. What stopped me was the 6 month commitment. I could not be away from the wife and kids that long.

[Eastender67]

Hundreds of them are off the coast of Texas and no major problems whatsoever. Almost all are so far out they can not be seen. So far, no major oil spills. The rigs attract fish and fishermen. I have a house on the coast (right on the beach) between Freeport and Matagorda and am not bothered in any way by these rigs/platforms. I can see a few but they are so far out as to be unidentifiable unless you know what they are. You might think they're boats. People around here have no qualms whatsoever for allowing Gulf drilling. The benefits far outweigh any problems they cause.

I was looking at one of your (North Carolina) environmental groups (web site here: Home - Environment North Carolina) and these people are completely misinformed. There are so many regulations placed on the drilling rigs now days that those roughnecks and roustabouts can't even pee in the water without being fined. You've got nothing to be worried about.

As for the state of Louisiana, south Louisiana was damaged by the oil and gas drilling many, many years ago. Since that happened they've become heavily regulated and that nonsense has mostly stopped. But they (the oil and gas industry) certainly are not responsible for the problems with the vanishing Louisiana wetlands. It's very common knowledge that the construction of the levees, mostly on the Mississippi River is the reason for that. You can get loads of information on the internet to verify that, not the oil and gas industry, is causing the current problem. Before the levees the river flooded the lowlands every year bringing both silt and fresh water to the marsh lands and keeping them the way God intended. After the levees, no flooding, salt water intrusion and bad news. Look it up.

Hopefully the people of North Carolina will do their homework and will see that no harm will come from drilling off your shoreline.

[darylwi]

Originally Posted by Eastender67

As for the state of Louisiana, south Louisiana was damaged by the oil and gas drilling many, many years ago. Since that happened they've become heavily regulated and that nonsense has mostly stopped. But they (the oil and gas industry) certainly are not responsible for the problems with the vanishing Louisiana wetlands. It's very common knowledge that the construction of the levees, mostly on the Mississippi River is the reason for that. You can get loads of information on the internet to verify that, not the oil and gas industry, is causing the current problem. Before the levees the river flooded the lowlands every year bringing both silt and fresh water to the marsh lands and keeping them the way God intended. After the levees, no flooding, salt water intrusion and bad news. Look it up.

Sorry, but you can't say "south Louisiana was damaged by the oil and gas drilling many, many years ago" and then turnaround and say that the oil and natural gas industry are not responsible for the problems with the vanishing Louisiana wetlands. You're acting as if all they did was cut a hole through the marsh and scar our landscape; and the levee system is the only thing keeping the state from solving all of its environmental problems. Well, it's much too late for that.
http://saveourwetlands.org/news-paper.htm
http://gis.esri.com/library/userconf/educ05/papers/pap1222.pdf
I agree that the perceived taming of the Mississippi River throughout the 20th century has greatly impeaded the health and continued stability of our marsh lands, but to be so hypocritical as if you're speaking for the oil and gas industry is just insane. Maybe it would be more correct then to say that, yeah the country leveed the river (not Louisiana, Louisianians lived for decades and ceturies without a protective levee system), yeah state and federal regs weren't the strongest in what was still a new industry and yeah government (state and federal) officials were obviously greedy in wanting the industry to drill as much as they could to reap in the economic benefits. Then it's safe to say that the industry took advantage of those lax rules and environmental ignorance to advance their business goals.
The open water channels act to funnel and amplify wave action, saltwater intrusion and storm surge every time any storm of any size comes through which creates an environmental crisis that it seems noone in this country can or cares to comprehend, regardless of any levee system.
And while the Dutch can successfully create a barrier around their country, I guess we just go ahead and blow up our levees because that's what God intended. I can assure you that there are plenty of things in this country that God didn't intend.

[darylwi]

And let me apologize now for turning this into a discussion involving Louisiana on a Mississippi forum, but I believe there are plenty of lessons that NC can learn from mistakes made by other states, Louisiana in particular.

[slaz]

I used to live on the MS coast and moved to OR a number of years ago and now live in NC. I personally think most of the problems for the environment come from everyday pollution washed down river into the gulf. Just think about the number of people that impact the Miss. River. The attitudes of people on this side of the county are less environmentally friendly. How many cars do you see disposed of in creeks in the south? Not so many now but for years rivers and lakes were used as dumping grounds. Look up house boats on Fontana lake in western NC and e-coli. People used to dump their toilet water right out in the lake they were swimming and skiing in. The only difference in an oil rig is that when a spill happens it is a BIG impact all at once. WE, as the public, have just as large an impact. When I lived in central OR the rivers were clean, at least they looked clean, and I wouldn't think twice about getting in the water. I'd never swim in the French Broad river. I've seen what comes out of it.

[SunnyKayak]

Originally Posted by darylwi

And let me apologize now for turning this into a discussion involving Louisiana on a Mississippi forum, but I believe there are plenty of lessons that NC can learn from mistakes made by other states, Louisiana in particular.

I dont mind this being a discussion of Louisana , Texas or other off shore drilling on the usa coast I mainly interested in what is the known enviromental impact that these rigs have. I have a gut feeling if this is allowed it will be off the shores of the Outer Banks of North Carolina due to it the largest and further out to sea and less boat and shipping traffic than areas around Wilmington.

I am mix on the off shore drilling due to the usa currently sells it oil to other countries and there is no measure that says new drills will not be the same since it is a commodity.

I do appreciate each of your opinions so I can have a better understanding what a off shore oil rig will have to the coastal communities and water near it. I choose Miss out of draw out of hat lol so I wouldnt cross post in other state forums.

[Pegs73]

Hey what was the name of the company that you were offered that job? My boyfriend just moved to MS. and was offered a job as a cook on an oil rig. I am curious if this is all legit and where it is.I am suppose to move there if the job works out. I live in Ohio.

Originally Posted by Muhnay

Yes there is.. and there is good money to be had as a cook out at one of them. I almost took a job in the kitchen of one oil rig while in Gulfport. What stopped me was the 6 month commitment. I could not be away from the wife and kids that long.

[Muhnay]

Here are the companies I know of in Mississippi.. Ensco, Texaco, Chevron, Exxon, and then there was one I really liked it had a name reminded me of cereal.. Kellogg and Brown I think is what it was called. I was offered a job with Ensco.

Here is the companies website..

ENSCO International