Mysterious Louisiana Sinkhole Raises Concerns of Explosions and Radiation
By CHRISTINA NG | ABC News
The 400-square-foot gaping hole is in Assumption Parish, La., about 50 miles south of Baton Rouge.The sinkhole sits in the middle of a heavily wooded space where it has consumed all of the soaring cypress trees that had been there. Flyover photos show some of the treetops still visible through the mud.
Authorities enacted a mandatory evacuation for between 100 and150 homes in the area, but most people have chosen to stay, according to the Mayor's Office of Emergency Preparedness. If any of the dangers seem to become more imminent, the order will be escalated to a forced evacuation. While officials are not certain what caused the massive sinkhole, they believe it may be have ben caused by a nearby salt cavern owned by the Texas Brine Company.
After being used for nearly 30 years, the cavern was plugged in 2011 and officials believe the integrity of the cavern may have somehow been compromised, leading to the sinkhole.
On Thursday, Louisiana's Department of Natural Resources required that Texas Brine drill a well to investigate the salt cavern as soon as possible, obtain samples from the cavern and provide daily reports on their findings. It could take up to 10 days to set up the drilling process, even with an expedited process.
"We have to arrange for the driller. We have to pick a location. We have to be very careful to not be in a point that's too close to the sinkhole because of the weight of the rig," Texas Brine Company spokesman Sonny Cranch told ABCNews.com today. "We don't want to aggravate the situation."The sinkhole is on the outside edge of the salt dome where this particular brine well is located."There are some indications that it very well may have been connected, but there's just indications," Cranch said. "There's nothing concrete that has connected the sinkhole to the cavern."
There was bubbling in the water and the sinkhole is near areas where there has been exploration for oil and gas in the past, which would make the presence of low levels of naturally occurring radioactive material (NORM) possible.
The state's Department of Environmental Quality said water samples from the sinkhole showed oil and diesel on its surface, but initial readings did not detect radiation.
In the days after the sinkhole opened up on Aug. 3, nearby Highway 70 was closed down because officials discovered that the sinkhole caused a 36-inch natural gas pipeline to bend and feared the possibility of an explosion, according to ABC News' Baton Rouge affiliate WBRZ.
"That's why the mandatory evacuation is going to stay on, because there is a risk for explosion," John Boudreaux of from Assumption Parish Emergency Preparedness said at a meeting with residents on Tuesday, WBRZ reported.
"We are determined to do everything we can to find the answer," president of Texas Brine Mark Cartwright told the residents.
Some community members were visibly frustrated with the situation and lack of answers."You can give us a straight answer because that's all we want," one woman said at the meeting. "We want to know when we can come home and be safe. Because you all go home after a days work. You're safe, but we're not."
Gov. Bobby Jindal issued a declaration of emergency allowing the Governor's Office of Homeland Security to assist in the efforts if necessary.
"This is extremely serious and it's been going on for too long to still be at this point," Kim Torres, spokeswoman for the Office of Emergency Preparedness, told ABCNews.com today. "The people are very aware of how serious this is."
source: http://news.yahoo.com/mysterious-louisiana-sinkhole-raises-concerns-explosions-radiation-161233618--abc-news-topstories.html
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Louisiana sinkhole roils local natural gas network
By Jeanine PreziosoNEW YORK |
NEW YORK (Reuters) - A sinkhole the size of a football field in southern Louisiana has forced energy companies to halt nearby natural gas pipeline activity and draw down fuel from a local storage cavern.
Chevron Corp's subsidiary Bridgeline Holdings declared force majeure on new injections into its salt dome storage facility near the sinkhole and the town of Napoleonville, through the rest of the year, according to notice to customers posted on its website.
Customers were also asked to begin reducing their current storage inventory to 40 percent of each of their currently contracted amount, according to the Bridgeline filing.
Natural gas traders said Chevron's move to purge the gas could push an additional 4 billion to 5 billion cubic feet of gas on the market. U.S. September and October futures prices settled lower, while winter months settled higher on Wednesday, and traders said companies could be scrambling to sell supplies while locking in winter gas to meet heating demand.
"Chevron Pipeline Co has elected to take the step of drawing down the NS1 cavern as a precaution to ensure that we are doing everything possible to protect public safety and the environment," said Gareth Johnstone, a Chevron spokesman.
The sinkhole, which local media reported was 372-feet wide, was discovered near the cavern on Friday, and has consumed full-grown trees. Sinkholes occur when underground spaces or caverns become so large they can no longer support the land above them, causing a collapse.
There is no indication that gas is leaking from the facility, Johnstone said, adding there was no evidence that the integrity of the cavern was at risk.
Louisiana Commissioner of Conservation James Welsh issued a Declaration of Emergency on Friday due to the sinkhole, located in a region of wooded swamp in Bayou Corne. The Texas Brine Company, which has a plugged salt cavern within 100 yards of the sinkhole, was ordered to investigate the site.
"The objective is to determine if the cavern has a direct relationship to this event," said Mark Cartwright, president of subsidiary Texas Brine Company Saltville, LLC. "The obvious conclusion is of course it does, but we don't know yet.""This is very puzzling."
Unexplained bubbles discovered in the region in recent months had been under investigation by state, local, and federal agencies.
Tremors were also reported in the area before the sinkhole appeared, state officials said, but the cause was still being investigated.
PIPELINES SHUT
Enterprise Product Partners, owner of the Arcadian Gas Pipeline System, said it was forced to shut two 20-inch gas pipelines near the area, according to a spokesman. The gas has been rerouted so the company has been able to continue deliveries to customers, he added.
A spokeswoman for Crosstex Energy said the company shut a portion of its 36-inch natural gas pipeline near the sinkhole taking about 150 million cubic feet a day of supply offline.
Customers have made other arrangements to source other supplies, the spokeswoman said.
Chevron has three natural gas salt dome storage caverns in the area with a total capacity to hold 12.7 billion cubic feet of gas, according to the company website. The storage sites connect with Acadian Gas Pipeline Company, Gulf South Pipeline Company, and Florida Gas Transmission. Maximum withdrawal was listed as 1.1 bcf per day.
"They are worried about the cavern integrity and the slurry breaching the salt dome that they have," said Genscape senior natural gas analyst Andy Krebs.
read more at http://www.reuters.com/article/2012/08/08/us-chevron-natgas-idUSBRE87716I20120808
read more about the above pic here:
http://www.bing.com/images/search?q=louisianna+sinkhole&view=detail&id=E0910542A197E38057EC51E03F05DE0AB3719094&first=36
Louisiana sinkhole expected to keep residents away at least a month
August 10, 2012
Residents living near a sinkhole in a southern Louisiana bayou are not expected to be allowed to return home for at least another month, officials said Friday.
Authorities are investigating the cause of the slurry-filled hole, which is roughly the size of a football field.
Specifically, they are looking into whether a nearby salt cavern could be to blame and have ordered the company that is responsible for that cavern to drill a relief well.
The process is expected to take up to 40 days, said Assumption Parish President Martin Triche. Until the well is drilled, authorities do not anticipate lifting the evacuation order that affects approximately 150 homes.
"We won't feel a level of confidence to lift the evacuation until we have more answers from that well," Triche told reporters.
Roughly half of the residents told to leave heeded the call, he said.
Louisiana officials have reached out to Texas Brine Company, urging it to provide affected residents with some type of assistance while it investigates whether a breach in its cavern might have caused the sinkhole 100 yards away.
The situation is made all the worrisome because the hole is believed to be close to a well containing 1.5 million barrels of liquid butane, a highly volatile liquid that turns into a highly flammable vapor upon release. A breach of that well, Assumption Parish Sheriff Mike Waguespack has said, could be catastrophic.
read more at http://articles.cnn.com/2012-08-10/us/us_louisiana-bayou-sinkhole_1_cavern-louisiana-sinkhole-evacuation-order
New Iberia, Louisiana
September 6, 2005
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