Louisiana Sinkhole

[Barkingowl]

We've been having an interesting discussion about this sinkhole on FB with Karin & Joebuck. Naturally there's a big concern about what's in this hole & how close it is to another salt dome filled with butane.

Joey said it would be alright if I started a thread here about it, so here it is.

50+ Caverns Underneath Louisiana Sinkhole | Earthquakes (http://beforeitsnews.com/earthquakes/2012/08/50-caverns-underneath-louisiana-sinkhole-2443926.html)
http://www.examiner.com/article/sinkhole-h-bomb-explosion-equivalent-bayou-corne-possible

[Barkingowl]

8/11/2012 -- Louisiana Sink Hole Explained -- POSSIBLE HUGE CATASTROPHE -- 100 Hiroshimas - YouTube

[OddBall]

Don't light a match! :ohnoes:

[beadist]

:ohnoes: We're all gonna die!!!!:ohnoes:

:lol:

Here's some more info about what's going on. The first link has a good map of the various sites. The gas bubbles started over a month ago and were the first indicators that something odd was happening. Then there were numerous earth tremors. Then a big sinkhole opened up and has been growing.

DEQ seeks salt cavern butane scenario | News | The Advocate — Baton Rouge, LA (http://theadvocate.com/news/3633853-123/deq-seeks-salt-cavern-butane)


Drilling rig parts arrive at Assumption sinkhole site | News | The Advocate — Baton Rouge, LA (http://theadvocate.com/news/3642925-123/drilling-rig-parts-arrive-at)

[kylebuck]

Shit going on in my back yard

[Blademaker]

Don't light a match! :ohnoes:

Pat Travers Band - Boom Boom (Out Go The Lights) - YouTube

[Prosecutor]

We have a sink hole a bit closer to us...have you seen what is happening in Wadesboro?

[beadist]

We have a sink hole a bit closer to us...have you seen what is happening in Wadesboro?

This sinkhole is @ 500' deep and the concern is that the empty salt dome underneath it will collapse, release the gas stored in it and suck in acres of bayou, homes, boats and trees. Then it could touch off the gas stored in 3 nearby domes. Plus it has a gas pipeline going thru it.

KA-BOOM!!!!

[BuckyThreadkiller]

This sinkhole is @ 500' deep and the concern is that the empty salt dome underneath it will collapse, release the gas stored in it and suck in acres of bayou, homes, boats and trees. Then it could touch off the gas stored in 3 nearby domes. Plus it has a gas pipeline going thru it.

KA-BOOM!!!!

It looks like it could take out a good sized chunk of the parish. That could do literally hundreds of dollars in damage.

[beadist]

It has happened here before.

Lake Peigneur sinkhole disaster - YouTube

[BuckyThreadkiller]

It has happened here before.

Lake Peigneur sinkhole disaster - YouTube (http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=ddlrGkeOzsI)

That's amazing. I was in college at that time and I don't remember hearing a thing about that.

[KWIL]

It looks like it could take out a good sized chunk of the parish. That could do literally hundreds of dollars in damage.

lol

[beadist]

That's amazing. I was in college at that time and I don't remember hearing a thing about that.

There's another video showing the barges and stuff being regurgitated after the dome filled up. I'm told it's hilarious to watch but I couldn't find it.

You have lots of salt domes in TX also Bucky. All along the Gulf coast. The domes are also where the Strategic Oil Reserves are stored.

Shhhhhhsh....don't tell anyone.

:leaving:

[BuckyThreadkiller]

There's another video showing the barges and stuff being regurgitated after the dome filled up. I'm told it's hilarious to watch but I couldn't find it.

You have lots of salt domes in TX also Bucky. All along the Gulf coast. The domes are also where the Strategic Oil Reserves are stored.

Shhhhhhsh....don't tell anyone.

:leaving:

They are all over - I've been to the ones in Kansas. Because they are stable for humidity and temperature - no insects - the studios in Hollywood use them to store classic films and props.

[kylebuck]

As long as stephensville does not get sucked under...i should be good.

[tshirts and jeans]

wow... that is all crazy.....think i would be getting my stuff out and getting away if i lived near there......:leaving:

[beadist]

wow... that is all crazy.....think i would be getting my stuff out and getting away if i lived near there......:leaving:

An evacuation order was issued the day the sinkhole appeared and a lot of people left. The people who stayed were visited by officials and asked to fill out a form with contact info for their next of kin.

The thing is getting bigger.

[Bucwheat]

Another lake will be formed :D

[NEVRL8T]

Seeing, at first glance, who the OP was, I thought it said "Louisiana Stinkhole".

[beadist]

One of the most concise accounts so far.

Mysterious environmental disaster unfolding in Louisiana bayou community atop gas storage caves | The Institute for Southern Studies (http://www.southernstudies.org/2012/08/mysterious-environmental-disaster-unfolding-in-louisiana-bayou-community.html)

Mysterious environmental disaster unfolding in Louisiana bayou community atop gas storage caves

By Karen Savage, Bridge the Gulf
Ashley Alleman and her husband knew something was wrong months ago. Amid reports of unexplained bubbling in nearby Bayou Corne, they’d been feeling strange rumblings beneath their home, rumblings they’d never felt before.

Initially the Allemans and other community members who felt the same tremors were met with disbelief. According to Ashley, Joseph Ball, the director of the Louisiana Department of Natural Resources Department of Injection and Mining, even suggested it was heavy trucks traveling down nearby Highway 70.

When a massive sinkhole/slurry area opened up in the wee hours of Friday, August 3, Ashley’s husband told her to call Mr. Ball: "Tell him his truck just landed in the bayou."

In addition to the tremors, bubbling indicative of leaking gas was discovered in Bayou Corne. Residents say the bubbling was first reported to officials on May 30. Repeated calls to officials initially got very little response.
Eventually, the US Geological Survey was called in to monitor the tremors and the Department of Natural Resources (DNR) and Department of Environmental Quality (DEQ) were instructed to test the gas bubbles and to fingerprint the gas for a possible match to one of the several pipelines under the bayou.

Initially, a pipeline leak was suspected, as was leakage from an abandoned well in the area of the bubbling. Acadia Gas depressurized two local pipelines, but the bubbling continued.

Then, on August 3, residents were awakened by a powerful diesel smell, strong enough to cause headaches and nausea. A "slurry" area, also described as a sinkhole, had opened between Bayou Corne and Grand Bayou. Officials who flew over the site reported trees had collapsed in what was initially reported to be a 200 foot by 200 foot area. Estimates now say the area is closer to 372 feet in diameter and 422 feet deep.
By the next evening, a test of a Crosstex pipeline in the area had determined the line had shifted. John Boudreaux, director of Homeland Security and Emergency Preparedness for Assumption Parish, described the pipeline as "what we call compromised, it sank 16 feet and shifted to the east 15 feet."

As a result, Highway 70, the only route through the community, was closed in order to allow the pipeline companies to depressurize their lines, which was completed Sunday night and the highway reopened. Yet the bubbling continued, indicating the pipelines were not the source of the gas.

Authorities have since determined abandoned wells in the area are also not the source.

If the abandoned wells or the pipelines aren't the culprit, where is the gas coming from? What caused the massive sinkhole/slurry area?
The Allemans and their neighbors came to last Tuesday night's meeting, held by state and local officials, to get some answers and hoping for reassurance that their corner of paradise wouldn't explode or be swallowed into the earth like the trees and marsh were last week. They wanted to know the source of the lingering, sometimes very strong smell of diesel in the air.
The meeting hall was standing room only half an hour before the meeting. What residents heard was anything but reassuring.

Although abandoned wells and leaky pipelines are no longer considered to be the source, bigger questions remain. The Bayou Corne and Grande Bayou communities sit atop the Napoleon Salt Dome. Until last year, Texas Brine mined salt from the dome and several companies currently store natural gas and LPG (liquefied petroleum gas) in the caverns.

Mark Cartwright, representing Texas Brine, admitted the company had to abandon operations at the mine last year as the result of "loss of integrity in the well bore." Testing indicated they were drilling in an area that was much closer to the edge of the salt area than initially thought. Drilling too close to the edge could puncture a protective outer layer of solid rock salt, and threaten the integrity of the caverns, causing a possible collapse.
In response to a question regarding the thickness of the remaining protective outer salt layer, Cartwright was unable to say how close to the edge they were drilling. He could only say that initial studies indicated they were "hundreds of feet" away from the edge when they began drilling, but that measurement was taken years ago using older technology.

Adding to the concern are the storage caverns created over the years as salt has been removed. Currently Crosstex, Dow Chemical, Chevron and others store store natural gas and LPG under the community. *As a result of the sinkhole, they are currently in the process of removing their products from storage caverns.

Perhaps most concerning to residents is a cavern storing butane, which belongs to Crosstex. Officials have not yet determined whether or not to relocate the butane, which is highly flammable.

Residents also expressed concern that residual gas and diesel from a leak that forced families to evacuate on Christmas Day 2003 could be seeping out. Some reports indicate large quantities lost during that leak are still unaccounted for.

Residents were out of their homes for two months and, before they could return, say they were required to have gas vents installed and insulation blown into their homes as an added precaution against possible ignition of that gas.

According to Ball, the fingerprint of the gas from the 2003 incident does not match the gas currently bubbling up.

After asking about recent test results indicating the presence of chloride (which would indicate the presence of salt) in the slurry area, residents were dismayed to learn sampling had been done only at the surface area, not at the bottom. Chloride is known to be more concentrated in deeper water. The presence of chloride may indicate a cavern has been compromised, threatening the entire dome structure.

Lake Peigneur, located above a salt dome 80 miles west of Bayou Corne, collapsed in 1980 when a drilling rig punctured a protective layer in the salt mine wall, causing the entire lake, including a drilling rig, several larges barges and large chunks of the surrounding land to be pulled into the cavern below. The pressure was so great that the bayou ran backwards, creating a large waterfall as the bayou was sucked back into the puncture hole. No one was hurt in that incident.

Dr. Wilma Subra worked extensively on the Lake Peigneur incident and suspects drilling too close to the edge of the salt may have compromised the cavern in Bayou Corne. Subra, an award-winning scientist, has worked on the Lake Peigneur incident for several decades. Yet she was excluded from meetings of scientists on Monday and worries for the safety of the surrounding community.

So does Brandy Castagnos of Belle Rose, who has relatives in high school and is worried about school starting. Students in Pierre Port will have to travel through the evacuation zone to get to school in Napoleonville. "It's a mandatory evacuation ... but it's OK for the students and everybody to pass?" Officials said Highway 70, which runs through the evacuation zone, will remain open unless something new develops.

For now, federal, state and local officials, along with industry scientists, will continue to investigate. Martin Triche, Ward 5 juror and parish president, along with other parish officials urged investigators to use every technology and resource available to protect the community. Many residents and parish representatives are urging state officials to work with a greater sense of urgency. Waiting for answers is difficult and the evacuation order has been continued.

Jason Charlet lives in the evacuation zone, 2,600 feet from the sinkhole. "I have cracks in my master bedroom, in the ceiling. I have an in ground pool and the inside's lined with tiles. I have three places where the tiles popped out, cracked. I think it's more than just where they say it's at. ... We need more answers."

[tshirts and jeans]

karin....the people who didn't leave and then were contacted for next of kin......crazy .....people get away.....there is no warning when it could all just sink at once .....wow unbelievable how they could or would stay.....

[Mike Mercury]

Joey said it would be alright if I started a thread here about it, so here it is.


:thumbs:

I don't Facebook, Tweet Twit, MySpace... none of them.

[kylebuck]

karin....the people who didn't leave and then were contacted for next of kin......crazy .....people get away.....there is no warning when it could all just sink at once .....wow unbelievable how they could or would stay.....

That is the mentality of the bayou people. They refuse to trust anyone when it comes to an evacuation order. Hurricane coming with 145 mph winds, yeah we will ride it out in our trailer. Self preservation is not a strong point of cajuns.

[G8rDMD]

As long as stephensville does not get sucked under...i should be good.

It would probably be the best suck job of your life though!!!!!!

[kylebuck]

It would probably be the best suck job of your life though!!!!!!

suck the life right out of me.

[Truck Guy]

It looks like it could take out a good sized chunk of the parish. That could do literally hundreds of dollars in damage.:wow: Wow! That much... :lol:

[MrPeabody]

God is giving the United States an enema and He has stuck the hose in Louisiana.

[kylebuck]

So what was Katrina? A douche? :funny:

alcohol wipe.

[kylebuck]

God is giving the United States an enema and He has stuck the hose in Louisiana.

my dad has always said that if the US ever needed one ....LA would be the place to start.

[G8rDMD]

suck the life right out of me.

http://i149.photobucket.com/albums/s60/g8rdmd/PrincessBride_240Pyxurz.jpg

[beadist]

karin....the people who didn't leave and then were contacted for next of kin......crazy .....people get away.....there is no warning when it could all just sink at once .....wow unbelievable how they could or would stay.....

That is the mentality of the bayou people. They refuse to trust anyone when it comes to an evacuation order. Hurricane coming with 145 mph winds, yeah we will ride it out in our trailer. Self preservation is not a strong point of cajuns.

Some people don't have anywhere else to go or the money to pay for it. Texas Brine has not put up any money yet. This could go on for 4-6 months.

Joey is right too. There are mandatory evacuation orders every time a storm approaches but they can't force people to leave. Fire makes people jump in the car and head out in minutes.....hurricanes, flooding, sucking holes....not so much.

[DAB]

:ohnoes:

i'd say run for the hills....but LA is not known for hills.....

all y'all stay safe.

[BuckyThreadkiller]

Some people don't have anywhere else to go or the money to pay for it. Texas Brine has not put up any money yet. This could go on for 4-6 months.

Joey is right too. There are mandatory evacuation orders every time a storm approaches but they can't force people to leave. Fire makes people jump in the car and head out in minutes.....hurricanes, flooding, sucking holes....not so much.

How is it mandatory if they can't force people to leave?

Sounds more like a strongly worded suggestion.

[beadist]

How is it mandatory if they can't force people to leave?

Sounds more like a strongly worded suggestion.

This explains it the best.

Enforcing evacuation orders

In the United States a person cannot be forced to evacuate under most conditions. To facilitate voluntary compliance with mandatory evacuation orders first responders and disaster management officials have used creative techniques such as asking people for the names and contact of their next of kin, writing their Social Security Numbers on their limbs and torso so that their remains can be identified,[4] and refusing to provide government services in the affected area, including emergency services.

[Barkingowl]

Jason Charlet lives in the evacuation zone, 2,600 feet from the sinkhole. "I have cracks in my master bedroom, in the ceiling. I have an in ground pool and the inside's lined with tiles. I have three places where the tiles popped out, cracked. I think it's more than just where they say it's at. ... We need more answers."

This is worrisome. It makes one wonder if the problems occurring with this sinkhole aren't just a symptom of another dome cracking. Is there any fracking going on in the area?

[beadist]

This is worrisome. It makes one wonder if the problems occurring with this sinkhole aren't just a symptom of another dome cracking. Is there any fracking going on in the area?

No, but you have to remember that there is seismic activity all along the Mississippi River. They have been fracking in the north Louisiana Haynesville shale since @ 2008.

[CP]

Dude it was way more than a wipe. :funny:

Houston got a bunch of crap from that storm. :cuss:

Yeah, all the human debris that migrated here. :cuss:

[mrvette]

Yeah, all the human debris that migrated here. :cuss:

I dealt with enough myself in the FEMA relief effort, the stories about THAT one, and I was only good for a week on the job...must not have handed out enough money, I dunno, and honestly don't care one bit....but a buddy lasted some 4 months on that job, HE seen a LOT more.....

:leaving:

[Barkingowl]

Pending Explosive Disaster In Louisiana | Alternative (http://beforeitsnews.com/alternative/2012/08/pending-explosive-disaster-in-louisiana-2452988.html)

[MrPeabody]

Pending Explosive Disaster In Louisiana | Alternative (http://beforeitsnews.com/alternative/2012/08/pending-explosive-disaster-in-louisiana-2452988.html)

Or, it's just a sinkhole in Louisiana.

[Datawiz]

It has happened here before.


Wow!! :eek:

[mrvette]

Pending Explosive Disaster In Louisiana | Alternative (http://beforeitsnews.com/alternative/2012/08/pending-explosive-disaster-in-louisiana-2452988.html)

Yeh, go blame BP yet again, it's ALL their fault, ok, all this shit is the fault of mankind seeking a easier life.....

yeh, right, how about that fireball in the sky and all the extra heat it's pumping out these daze?? FLARES anyone??

who knows what affect those effects will have on us???

....1-2% change in temps on the sun, is 50 brazillion degrees HERE....

:confused5::leaving: