At the same time, Dave Gregory, a retired hotel clerk from Marion, Iowa, sent a letter to the Advocate of Baton Rouge with a similar complaint against Jindal:
Gregory closes with: "Please call back your governor and find something for him to do.Mr Jindal maybe using his political activities to avoid this sinkhole issue. I don't recall seeing anything that states Mr. Jindal has been to the area. I wonder if he is scared to go visit the bayou?
11:50a ET: 500 square feet falls into giant sinkhole — Towards pipeline on SW side — Clean up halted
Originally posted by Anmarie96
reply to post by riverwild
The monitors can be found Here.
They seriously lack instruments in this area IMHO.
Officials: “Deep natural formation” may be source of gas around giant sinkhole — Fears it could reach surface at explosive levels
Further sampling and analysis of potential sources is continuing to attempt a clear determination whether the source of the natural gas bubbling is a deep natural formation or whether it can be narrowed to a processed source, such as a specific storage operation,” [Patrick Courreges, of the Department of Natural Resources] said in an email response to questions. […]
Inside Report for Oct. 10, 2012 Sinkhole leads to finger-pointing
Texas Brine Co. of Houston asserted late on the night of Sept. 24 that regional earthquakes damaged its salt cavern in the Bayou Corne area of Assumption Parish. Less than 12 hours after that 10:31 p.m. news release, the company was on the receiving end of a vigorous response from Louisiana Department of Natural Resources and parish officials to rebut the claim that the cavern failure was caused by natural causes and also to call on Texas Brine to back up its claim.
But DNR officials have since said that subsequent seismic data shows Texas Brine’s claim last month had it backward. The “USGS consensus” is that the seismic activity was a consequence of the cavern collapse, not its cause, DNR reported. Texas Brine declined comment initially, but spokesman Sonny Cranch has since said the company is sending to DNR data backing up its view on the origins of the cavern failure and does not plan to retract its statements.
But DNR and parish officials themselves twice issued joint news statements in mid-August taking aim at Texas Brine over the claimed slow pace of retroactive housing assistance payments to evacuees. Each time, the news releases blasting Texas Brine came without advance consultation with the Houston company and had the effect of likely blunting what would have otherwise been less-negative coverage for Texas Brine.
BAYOU CORNE — A shallow well recently drilled into the aquifer underneath the Bayou Corne area has hit natural gas, Shaw Environmental officials said Tuesday. That well is one of three that contractors for Louisiana Department of Natural Resources drilled to find and vent natural gas believed trapped in the Mississippi River Alluvial Aquifer.
Along with sampling showing some of the most remote bubble sites are swamp gas from decomposing organic matter, the well findings support earlier indications that gas is in the aquifer, running under the section of northern Assumption Parish. But the findings also suggest that the gas has not spread to populated areas. Parish officials have said they are concerned the gas could build pressure in the aquifer, escape and lead to an explosive risk, though testing has not found that so far.
Hecox also said that hydrocarbons pulled from inside the cavern and on top of the sinkhole are virtually identical as far as their chemical makeup. When asked if that means it is confirmed the failure of the cavern caused the sinkhole, he said “All the data we’ve looked at so far would lead you to that conclusion, yes.”Hecox said later that, in contrast to early reports, the hydrocarbons in the sinkhole and the cavern are crude oil, not diesel, and may have come from natural oil bearing formations along the side of the salt dome.
Hecox said the most likely option is that the crude oil went up the side of the salt dome into the sinkhole. But he also said that many of the occurrences around Bayou Corne appear to be tied together. “It is very likely the release of oil and the gas we’re seeing, the cavern collapse, and the sinkhole are all related,” he said.
“While our ongoing review of operational records on the Napoleonville Salt Dome has not shown one single underground source known to contain enough diesel fuel to cover the sinkhole/slurry area, an underground oil-and-gas formation could easily account for the amounts found on the sinkhole/slurry area surface and in the cavern.”
Officials: Crude oil source may link sinkhole and failed cavern
"Distinguishing between ‘diesel fuel' and ‘diesel-range crude oil' is critical to the effort to ensure public safety by determining the cause of the cavern failure and the sinkhole, and their possible link to each other and to the natural gas that has been found in the aquifer in the Bayou Corne area," Welsh said. "While our ongoing review of operational records on the Napoleonville Salt Dome has not shown one single underground source known to contain enough diesel fuel to cover the sinkhole/slurry area, an underground oil-and-gas formation could easily account for the amounts found on the sinkhole/slurry area surface and in the cavern." Welsh said that better understanding of the source of the crude oil could also help better identify the source of the natural gas in the aquifer because oil and natural gas are often found together in productive formations.
"We discovered natural gas in both wells sites near the sinkhole and are now working as quickly as possible to remove it through these vent wells," Welsh said. "However, the initial analysis of the third well, sited on the west side of Bayou Corne, reveals that it does not have an accumulation of natural gas, though analysis will continue at that well as the work continues throughout the area to resolve the situation for the community."
