Tremors felt 45 miles away from Bayou Corne Sinkhole!

Remember how they were tagging the cavern depth every week?

Back in mid-February, the cavern had filled to within 6' of the top; at 3642' below the surface. The most recent tagging, reported on 17 March, found the cavern fill at 3995' below the surface--a drop of 351' over 2 weeks.

The situation is still far from stable, at depth....

So the rocks are falling in and filling up the cavern, then the bottom is falling out and the 'depth' (void/hole) is increasing again. I assume the void will fill up again and then the weight will push it or the bottom will collapse again soon.

The authorities MUST know this is happening so where is the latest reports and 3D seizmic data they owe us?

It all cannot be due to 'settling' of the rocks in the chamber can it?

originally posted by: qmantoo

It all cannot be due to 'settling' of the rocks in the chamber can it?

In my opinion, no. It probably involves rock still moving outside of the ruptured side wall of the salt cavern.

Time for some updates.

The class action lawsuit filed against Texas Brine by the 90 residents who did not accept buy outs, has been settled for $48.1 million dollars.
www.wwltv.com...

Texas Brine is allowing contract workers to move into the homes they bought out. www.nbc33tv.com...

There was another slough in near Oxy-Geismar pad 3, back in March. It really starts moving just after the 2 minute mark.


The most recent flyover on 16 April 2014:

Couple of events close together on the 5th June
See here The true size has been clipped but (as someone who doesn't know about these things) I suspect and speculate it is from another collapse.

The same event appears on both LA18 & LA12 so somewhere in between these two maybe? (old map of locations) Looking at the map though it appears as if the event happened off to the left West or SouthWest perhaps since the LA12 & LA18 are fairly close together. I thought things were collapsing off to the right (East) of the sinkhole previously?

The LA18 image shows a pause in the middle (ie two collapses?) yet the LA12 is continuous and shows as all one. Possibly the receiving station LA12 is at right angles to the point of collapse? Maybe someone who knows about these things can make a comment please?

IRIS shows a gap in each and the true magnitude of the events without clipping.
LA12
LA18




there is a Powerpoint update from 30 May 2014 on this website here.

More and more sinkholes opening up. This one in Seoul, dont know what mining has gone on underground around there.

So the news seems to have dried up now and people have moved on. Thats a problem for important issues...people lose attention and the subject drops frrom view. Can't force folks to be interested I suppose as we all have busy lives. It would be nice to have an in-the-background news monitoring service which kept the pot boiling. Oh well.

Noticed hasn't been much posted here as of late.

August 13, 2014
3:20 p.m. Update
The Office of Conservation, following discussions with Assumption Parish Incident Command, has issued a new order to Texas Brine, directing the company to conduct new tests to further assess conditions in the vicinity of the company’s Oxy Geismar 2 cavern, located to the east of the failed Oxy Geismar 3 cavern. In recent weeks, the seismic monitoring system that Conservation ordered Texas Brine to install has detected increased seismic activity that appears to have been located in or near the eastern wall of the original Oxy Geismar 3 cavern.

The number and strength of the seismic events, while elevated, have since diminished and were much lower than those witnessed in previous major events such as sinkhole sloughing or the initial failure of Oxy Geismar 3. Though that activity has decreased and the two caverns are several hundred feet apart, the Office of Conservation is requiring a full assessment of the Oxy Geismar 2 cavern to ensure protection of the public and the environment – ordering Texas Brine to conduct a pressurized Mechanical Integrity Test, run a new top-to-bottom sonar survey and develop an action plan if any issues are identified. While the strength and number of events in the recent seismic activity are not, by themselves, indicative of significant new problems, part of the purpose of the seismic monitoring network is to detect activity at an early stage and give time to assess whether additional actions are necessary.

August 25, 2014
1:05 p.m. UPDATE
**UPDATE**
After investigating, a source producing the odor mentioned in this morning’s post was not able to be located. If you experience an odor of this sort, we encourage you to contact OEP at 985-369-7386 so that it can be looked into further.

August 25, 2014
9:20 a.m. Reported Odor Being Investigated
Assumption OEP is currently investigating reports of a hydrocarbon-like odor in the Pierre Part community. This odor does not seem to be related to the sinkhole (no burp has taken place to produce such an odor). Updates will be provided accordingly regarding this situation.

Assumption Parish

Operation Situation Updated as of August 13th.

FAQ


GOHSEP Response Page

wait wut?! New Plan are they serious?

New plan in place for sinkhole

Now, Texas Brine wants to get permission to keep pumping wastewater from their vent wells into the sinkhole. While some involved in the cleanup aren't pleased with the idea, residents of Bayou Corne say they don't have a problem with it.

They want to put waste water back in there...

Texas Brine is already pumping wastewater from the vent wells into the sinkhole, using a one-year general permit form. They're seeking to formalize that permit for five years, something the state Department of Environmental Quality will have to approve.

"The people who should have the most objection about it are those of us who are staying, and to my knowledge, nobody who's staying has any problem with that water being injected or put back into the sinkhole," said resident Dennis Landry.

Source

WBZR News

September 11, 2014
8:55 a.m. Update from the Office of Conservation
The Office of Conservation and Assumption Parish Incident Command are reporting that seismic monitoring early Tuesday detected a brief period of increased seismic activity that appears to have been located in or near the eastern wall of the original Oxy Geismar 3 cavern. Though the number of micro-seismic events was elevated for several minutes, the number and strength were lower than have been witnessed in previous major events, and quickly diminished. Conservation and Assumption Parish Incident Command will continue to monitor the situation and advise the public of any developing concerns.

Assumption Parish

Although I dont understand what this announcement really means, life seems to be back to normal for them at Texas Brine and this is no longer a big deal. That's strange seeing as how the whole of the Oxy 3 is collapsing underground. They appear to be taking advantage of the situation and using the sinkhole as a convenient dumping ground for their waste water.

I dont know the area and I dont know the way it all works, but I assume this watery place is all part of a river system which drains into the sea. As I understand it, waste water was what was in Oxy 3 salt cavern in the first place. The waste water being the stuff they put down wells and then pump up again and it contains all kinds of chemicals and bits of oil, and whatever else was down there after they finish drilling. That cannot be good for the wildlife in the area to have open dumping of this waste which was originally stored underground.

Maybe they dont have any salt domes in the area stable enough to hold it all now.

Anything more ever come out of this? Is it still actively growing in size and threatening the area around or has it stabilized at this point?

Well after rez reminded about this topic i need to look for all my bookmarks lol.

Last entry from assumption parish was back on Jan 15'

January 16, 2015
11:55 a.m. Seismic Activity Visible Around Sinkhole
An increase in Seismic Activity has been observed in past weeks around the Sinkhole. Activity occurred sometime last night that indicates water movement as well as a drop in water level within the contained area of the sinkhole. There has been no noticeable changes to the trees or surface anywhere around the Sinkhole.

LDOTD has reported no changes being observed in any of the instrumentation placed along Highway 70.

Source

hmm looks like alot of info from sites is gone after looking around abit....

No situation updates on there site since sept 17th 14' Source

not sure there is even a latest flyover of the size.

As Rezlooper pointed out there seems to still be some rockin and rollin going on underneath on a regular basis but pretty much not much a main stream story at all.

Ghost Town Left in the Wake of the Bayou Corne Sinkhole in Louisiana

Source

Flyover shot is at 1:14 mark from March 10th 2015

a reply to: lurksoften

Judge listens to complaints from former Bayou Corne residents, but finds the sinkhole settlement and attorney fees to be fair

NEW ORLEANS — The federal judge overseeing a class-action lawsuit over the Bayou Corne sinkhole told plaintiffs upset with their attorneys’ handling of the case that he believes the lawyers, the suit’s court-appointed special master and the $48.1 million settlement they put together were “very fair.”

About 15 to 20 plaintiffs showed up Wednesday for the hearing that U.S. District Judge Jay C. Zainey ordered at the federal courthouse in New Orleans after one of the plaintiffs sent him an email complaining that he, his wife and other plaintiffs had been mistreated and misled by their lawyers. Zainey said others also have called his office complaining that the attorneys’ $12.03 million in fees, which is 25 percent of the settlement, was too high.

Ten of those plaintiffs spoke to Zainey for more than two hours Wednesday while the suit’s class counsel, other plaintiffs’ lawyers and other observers listened.

The former Bayou Corne residents spoke about a host of issues. Many were focused on their having enough information from their attorneys about how the case was shaping up so they could make decisions about whether to stay in the case and, later, to object to their home buyout and damages awards.

Opting in had great significance in the class action. It meant relying on the class counsel, instead of going it alone with other lawyers, to take on Texas Brine, the company many blame for the sinkhole.

MORE ON THIS TOPIC
Advocate file photo by TRAVIS SPRADLING -- A sinkhole caused by Texas Brine's failed underground salt dome cavern, with community of Bayou Corne behind it, is visible in an aerial photo taken Sept. 26. Some Bayou Corne settlement recipients raise concerns about their legal representation
Bayou Corne’s collapse among sinkholes examined by NOVA
Judge listens to complaints from former Bayou Corne residents, but finds the sinkhole settlement and attorney fees to be fair
Some Bayou Corne settlement recipients raise concerns about their legal representation
Bayou Corne’s collapse among sinkholes examined by NOVA
Attorneys for Bayou Corne residents seek $12 million in fees from settlement
Weekly evacuation assistance checks to continue for remaining Bayou Corne residents
Opting in also meant that residents would have to be bought out and move away from Bayou Corne, something many were reluctant to do.

Source

a reply to: lurksoften

Those people got screwed!

Very sad. Very Very sad.

WOW...the residents really have no one looking out for their best interests.--media included. This thread is one of the very few sources of information. Mainstream media ignores totally. a reply to: lurksoften

a reply to: Glinda

Oh so true. This is one of those stories that is swept under the rug.

All Bobby Jindahl care's about is himself.

After this mess was created and new rules put in place. The want try and lift those rule so they can mine near what has already happened. They are just asking for more trouble.....

New safety rules since massive sinkhole prevent Texas Brine from expanding salt cavern operation; company files suit against Dow

A 29-year-old Dow Chemical Co. salt cavern sits so close to Texas Brine’s property that new state safety regulations — created after the 2012 Bayou Corne sinkhole disaster — now prevent the Houston company from mining any new caverns on its property, a federal lawsuit alleges.

Texas Brine Co. has sued Dow and a local land company over the Dow cavern carved from the Napoleonville salt dome in Assumption Parish.

“Dow is obligated to (Texas Brine) for the value of the salt that (Texas Brine) can no longer mine, or ‘dead salt,’” the suit claims.

The suit, which also names Clifton Land Corp. as a defendant, was filed April 7 in U.S. District Court in New Orleans.

The 31-acre lake-like sinkhole in the swamp has prompted a series of lawsuits, displaced nearly an entire community of 350 people and now appears to be causing business repercussions for some companies that have relied for years on the Napoleonville dome’s salt.

Occidental Chemical Corp., Texas Brine’s longtime brine customer and partner in the salt dome cavern that likely failed and triggered the sinkhole, is looking for new salt sources, a parish official said.

Three wells Texas Brine developed and mined on Occidental’s and its predecessors’ behalf near the sinkhole — the land is owned by Occidental and leased to Texas Brine — are irreparably damaged or not in operation.

John Boudreaux, director of the Assumption Parish Office of Homeland Security and Emergency Preparedness, said two other caverns that Occidental relies on near the sinkhole that are mined by another company, are also under heavy scrutiny since the sinkhole’s formation. They are known as Occidental 9 and 10

Dow sent Texas Brine a letter in mid-February, saying its cavern, which is no longer being mined, is 1 foot from Texas Brine’s property. Because of that, Texas Brine claims it cannot mine 199 feet of salt on its north property line.

If Texas Brine were to mine a new cavern, it would be the first new one to be created since the sinkhole and would likely draw heightened scrutiny from the public and regulators, according to Boudreaux and a state listing.

Boudreaux and Patrick Courreges, a Louisiana Department of Natural Resources spokesman, said last week that no one has submitted an application for a new cavern on the dome.

Occidental spokesman Eric Moses declined comment Friday on the lawsuit. Texas Brine officials said “the suit speaks for itself,” and declined further comment.

Dow spokeswoman Stacey Chiasson also declined comment last week.

Source

Finally found there latest Assumption Parish
Operational Situation Summary

SO they still just have theories?

• Scientific Workgroup theories of cause:
• Salt Dome moving – natural migration of gas
• Failed cement casing in OXY #3 well
• Cavity Failure
• Salt / Caprock falling from top of the cavern
– Natural
– Man-made (including penetration into sediments by cavern)
• Gas storage cavern connections, communications by fractures
• Low permeability seepage of gas into OXY #3 (source unknown)
• Regional Tectonic activity (movement on growth faults)
• A combination of above events

a reply to: lurksoften

Just posting new video out from a source that i was surprised to see.

a reply to: lurksoften

Wow,

Thanks for posting.

Just goes to show, be careful who you allow into your neighborhoods and towns.

The promise of jobs and sustenance of a community can really turn on you.

DOTD prepares for worst case scenario in Assumption Parish

ASSUMPTION PARISH, LA (WAFB) - Only a dozen or so residents still live near the Bayou Corne sinkhole. However, around 9,000 cars and trucks travel by it on Highway 70 each day.
While things have been quiet at the sinkhole site, the Department of Transportation and Development is preparing for a worst case scenario.

"To shut down Highway 70 is a really big deal. It affects a lot of people, a lot of industry throughout the area," said Assumption Parish Emergency Operations Director John Boudreaux.

According to Boudreaux, Highway 70 was closed for one day shortly after the sinkhole opened up due to concerns about gas.

Ever since, DOTD has been monitoring the road since for any vertical, lateral or shaking movements. So far, there is no sign that it is in danger or would need to be closed.

However, if that changes DOTD wants to be ready. Officials are already going to through the lengthy process of planning an alternate route, just in case.

Another important reason to have the plans in place is due to a lack of alternate routes to begin with. If Highway 70 were to close now, cars would have to drive 44 miles out of the way. Heavier, industrial trucks would have to go more than 70 miles.

Source

Assumption Parish Operation Situation As Of June 3

a reply to: lurksoften

Just goes to show that things are still progressing (and not for the good) at the Bayou Corne Sinkhole. They say it's not something that has to be done YET, but are preparing for in cases...which means things are gettin no better!