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Subscribe to RSSThe sinkhole is swallowing up large cypress trees and other vegetation. NBC's Brian Williams reports.
The Texas-based owner of an abandoned cavern that officials think is the cause of 420-foot deep sinkhole in Louisiana received approval to drill a new well that may shed light on the source of the gaping hole, NBC station NEWS33 in Baton Rouge reported.
Located in the Assumption Parish, about 50 miles south of Baton Rouge, the hole has swallowed up trees and prompted a mandatory evacuation for nearby residents. Structural damage within the Napoleonville salt dome is believed to be its cause.
Texas Brine Co. got approval to drill the test well to determine the cavern's structural status and what pressures, brine or natural gas, it contains. The company faced $5,000 a day in fines if it didn't submit a permit request for the well by Monday.
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"Texas Brine has met the requirement set for the company to have that permit submitted, but that is not the end of their responsibility," Louisiana Department of Natural Resources Secretary Stephen Chustz told the station.
Company president Mark Cartwright told state officials that drilling equipment will start arriving late Wednesday or early Thursday, with drilling to begin a few days later. It will take 40 days to get into the cavern.
The company was also informed that its original permit for the cavern closest to the sinkhole requires it assist evacuees. Texas Brine will set up a relief fund for people who were forced to leave their home after Gov. Bobby Jindal declared a state of emergency in the parish.
John Boudreaux, director of the parish's Office of Homeland Security and Emergency Preparedness, told The Associated Press that around half of those told to leave their homes have actually left their homes.
The sinkhole, in a heavily wooded area 200 feet from the cavern, was discovered Aug. 3 following several months of natural gas bubbles coming up from bayous in the area.
The hole has since grown to about 370 feet wide and 420 feet deep by state estimates, though an official with the state Department of Environmental Quality told The Advocate some sections of the hole are only 50 feet deep.
Water samples taken last week showed no detectable levels of naturally occurring radioactive material on the hole’s surface. Additional samples were taken, but results won’t be ready until later in the week.
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The AP reported that Texas Brine will be responsible for progress reports of the drilling.
"There are no further regulatory approvals Texas Brine needs at this point," Chustz said. "From here on, their timetable is only limited by their decisions, but we will be monitoring progress to ensure that they expedite the drilling of that well, while maintaining a safe operation."
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They don't mention it in the article, but the reason they have to determine what happened is not just subsidence. The chemical industries pump all sorts of waste down into salt caverns and sometimes they get used for storage.
Sometimes in injection wells its stuff that is too hazardous to deal with otherwise. I wish the article would provide some detail about what is down there.
Third. Getting the media to understand environmental issues and geology is impossible. They only hire journalist majors and activists. Oftentimes, I am on the other side of these issues, where the media is demonizing my extractive industry client with no science behind the opposing view that they present. Then when I get tasked with explaining it to the public and the media, you might as well teach a dog calculus.
You are right though. There is no discussion of what they are using the salt caverns for. You would think that a quick visit to the State website where they post the well permits and sundries would allow for some additional information to be presented. Heck it could just be as simple as an unmapped thin spot in the roof or a poorly completed well that is dissolving the cavern away. Without a follow up story, we can just speculate and argue about it. But wait, could that be the point?
The nations Stragic Oil Reserve is stored in salt caverns.
These happen all over the United States. Let's don't start the chicken little stuff just yet.
Third Way, I would love to read the article where you found that chemical companies were dumping hazardous waste into a salt dome in the last 30 years. I find that very hard to believe.
Yes, for those of us not from Louisiana, an explanation of what salt caverns and salt domes are - don't mean to sound dumb . . . Are they natural formations, or the result of some sort of mining. . . .? Inquiring minds would like to know . . . .!
It's not so much that I distrust anyone from Texas, it's that historically, the pattern is always the same, deny the problem, then admit it only as much as can't be denied, and then bail and leave the tax payers with the bill. And the whole time there are industry prostitutes saying, nope no problem here.
this is nothing ...just give it some time and those fracing fluids...will show ya' a sink hole...enjoy it while ya can...
TOO BAD THE SINKHOLE IS NOT IN WASHINGTON DC ,would be less of a waste with BS politics and they just fill that hole up with our money if they could
We need more fossel fuel to burn, because before you know it the temperatures wil plummet to a chilly 80F. So drill baby drill!
The article said that it was used for natural gas storage, not hazardous waste.
...
The smart money is on global warming.
...
I thought it was "Global Climate Change" now since the science behind the warming had been refuted so much? Did you not get that memo?
This again. Global Warming is a part of climate change, not the whole story. I really do not have the time nor want to go over it again for the umpteenth time because some people do not do research on topics before coming to the Vine or other forums to make ridiculous claims.
Essentially the ecosystem is supposed to take care of itself. If the planet gets too hot the ice caps melt, increasing ocean surface area to reflect more heat off of the planet. However this is mitigated if there is something keeping heat (not radiation that causes heat) from exiting our atmosphere (green house gasses) and so de-heating through natural processes is reduced.
That is the short version, if you want to learn more about it use Google.
Yeah Geo, because everything you read on the internet is true.
Thom,
I was not talking about blogs and what not. I was talking about looking for crdible, cited, peer reviewed articles. Things that have credibility. Some Eco-blog is not credible in my opinion. Neither is an anti-Global Warming blog.
Geowil--I don't know if you will see this since I am reading the article and responding to you in November--but what you are talking about in #2.2 Paragraph 2, sounds like you are talking about albedo. But you have it backwards--the white ice at the poles and in Greenland reflect a lot MORE light back into space which is more cooling for the planet. The more ice melts and exposes the darker color of the ocean the more that light is absorbed by the ocean thus heating the ocean even more.
Maybe it's a state depression from the Honeybadger having to leave LSU or some A&M fans trying to tunnel in now that they've joined the SEC.
just HOG's...looking for a place to Waller...GO HOG'S...
Don't worry. Boudreaux is on it.
Sinkholes are scary. The thought of suddenly having one give way under my feet is nightmarish. Swallowed up and suffocated or crushed. What a horrible way to go.
This one isnt that bad, and its not under any people. Its in a open field. The big one in Guatemala, that happened a few years back, thats the kind of sinkhole that gives me nightmares.
Heres a video on it.: http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=8SFscEWxtIY
Hopefully they can find the cause of this one in Louisiana, and keep any more from happening. Or keep this one from getting worse.
Another Texas company with a scorched earth policy. Rape the earth of it's natural resources and leave town. Drill it for all the good it has to offer and fill the hole with waste.
Yes, I'd say its about time for Perry and company to break away from the rest of the country and require a visa to leave or enter the place. They are in their own world, and so be it.
Steve,
Just another person talking out of their butt with no first hand knowledge of anything. Are you enjoying the A/C at your office and the electricity that allows you to spout off on here? How did you get to work? How did the food you eat get to where it is? Any plastic at your house? At present I see license plates from all over the United States here in Texas. Just saw New York yesterday. So you were saying??
maybe ...please take your trash with you when you leave??
Freeze in the dark yankee!
Allot of screwed up things have been happening around the earth. Makes you think about the Maya end of the world belief.
when MEGAN FOX pose's nude for playboy my world will end ...mayan's were right about alot of thing's ....seems to happen when population's explode
It's the Balrog coming up looking for Gandolf.
soooooooo...diappointed
I thought this sinkhole was an artilce on Washington DC
ROFLMAO one could only wish for that.
you know if the discussion pages on these articles was used by people that really have some information, or something informative to say, they would be great, but instead, we have to wade thru worthless and stupid comments to get to the real meat of the story.. so please you idiots that enter your remarks just because you exist stop ! ! why show how stupid you are by making stupid comments? ? ? ?
Thank you!!!
I'm with you. Unless anyone posting is a geologist, there isn't one among us who knows what's happening below our feet. I'd even go so far as to say geologists don't know everything about our earth either, especially how drilling or mining affects the land under our feet. We've only just over 100 years for much of what has been done underground, longer on a few resources. None of us have any idea what those efforts will do to our earth as we've not no great length of time to have studied the effects. What effects will hundreds of years of mining or drilling do to our earth? Only time will tell. But until we can get concrete evidence of the effect, it's irresponsible to speculate what effect will occur.
Drill baby DRILLLL!!
Denny,
I am in the Permian Basin. Oil central. If drilling caused sink holes we would all be at the center of the earth by now. Don't believe everything you read. Especially on MSNBC in an election year.
Oh and about that story of the woman in PA poisening her boyfriend with Visine.. Well I guess anyone that has ever used it will get sick, seeing as how your eyes drain through ducts to the back of your throat.
What a big cock-up, I smell a Halliburton
Pull your head out of your butt, your bain needs oxygen.
Really? my 'Bain Capital' needs oxygen?
I find it interesting we hardly hear about FEMA in many of these article?
How many emergency organizations are there?
Probably too many to count. Reduce costs. Reduce big government.
Ever wonder why FEMA purchased 98 Apache helicopter gunships? I'm still wondering why.
government control 1984 a bit late
Maybe they're coming for you! Quick, get your tinfoil hat and hide under a rock, it's the black helecopters!!! Honestly though, I'm about as right-wing, pro-citizen revolt as you can get, but some of this conspiracy sh*t is ridiculous.
An abandoned salt cavern. Last time I checked, Abandoned mines are supposed to be filled, not abandoned.
Why was the cavern left to it's own devices? The cost of filling to much?
That's an easy one to solve, it was caused by the "modern day nimrods" who were using the "collider" to try to find the "god particle", they opened a wormwhole and now things will only continue to get worst. Ever seen the "mist"? The "collider" they're using in the EU will also cause chaos because the "nimrods" didn't learn the first time "baal" tricked the nimrods to do it's destructive work. God destroyed babylon back then and He will do it again, read Revelation 17 & 18. By the way, God is not a particle, He is Spirit and the King of all spirits and flesh period.
Huh - ?
Read Revelation 17 & 18 for the answers.
Ok, Salt domes are used for storage. Be it natural gas, oil, or some other product. You drill into a salt dome and then you change bits to one that uses water to create a cavern. (looks like an ear of corn in shape.) You then fill it with diesal (SP) fuel to force out the water then you pump in let's say natural gas and it pushes out the fuel oil. You can have several companies using the same dome. Now, in regards to this story I am sure this company does not want this dome to do what it is doing. Can not use it if it leaks. It could be cause by something other than man. These things are all over the place. And yes the will cave in on their own.
Those damned aliens. They will dig tunnels anywhere to get around DHS CBP just to get into this country. Bet this one came in from the gulf, and it sprung a little leaky poo.
Beat me to it...gotta be Mexicans.
I live 30 miles from this..and it just fell in..there isn't wastes in it....just a freak deal...@!$%# happens.