Out of control nightmare: tremors increasing at massive 13-acre Louisiana sinkhole
Posted on April 2, 2013 by The Extinction Protocol
April 2, 2013 – LOUISIANA - The
head of Louisiana’s Department of Natural Resources named 13 scientists
and other experts Friday to serve on a blue-ribbon commission tasked
with determining the long-term stability of the area around northern
Assumption Parish’s sinkhole. The 13-acre sinkhole and consequences of
its emergence and continued growth, such as methane trapped under the
Bayou Corne area, have forced the evacuation of 350 residents for more
than seven months. The sinkhole, found in swamps between Bayou Corne and
Grand Bayou on Aug. 3, is believed to have been caused by a failed
Texas Brine Co. LLC cavern mined into the Napoleonville Dome. Members of
the new panel are being asked to set up scientifically based benchmarks
in regard to the sinkhole and then determine when they have been met in
order to give assurances that the Bayou Corne area is safe for the
return of evacuated residents. “The work of this commission is crucial
to the future of public safety in the Bayou Corne area,” DNR Secretary
Stephen Chustz said in a prepared statement announcing the 13
appointments. “We must ensure we have done all that we can to get the
right people to provide the right answers in making recommendations for
the future of the people who want to return,” Chustz said. The secretary
made the appointments in consultation with Jim Welsh, state
Commissioner of Conservation, and Kevin Davis, director of the
Governor’s Office of Homeland Security and Emergency Preparedness, the
statement says. The Office of Conservation is part of DNR. Gov. Bobby
Jindal called for formation of the commission earlier this month after
meeting with Assumption Parish public officials and Texas Brine
executives about the sinkhole. DNR officials said in a statement that
the blue-ribbon commission’s first meeting will be held in early April.
Patrick Courreges, DNR spokesman, has said some of the group’s meetings
would be public, but it was not clear Friday if the panel’s inaugural
session would be open to the public or not. Underscoring the lingering
concerns about the growing sinkhole and when it may stabilize, yet
another round of seismic activity forced parish officials to halt work
around the sinkhole Friday morning for the second time in a little more
than a week, officials said. John Boudreaux, Assumption Parish’s
director of Homeland Security and Emergency Preparedness, said the
seismic activity was detected about 7 a.m. Friday under the sinkhole and
the failed Texas Brine cavern. Seismic monitors detected an increase
Friday in the “very long period” tremors that scientists have said
indicate fluid and gas movement below the sinkhole, parish officials
said in a blog post. Parish officials added that Friday’s seismic
activity was limited to the sinkhole and the Texas Brine cavern. The
activity appears to have had no effect on a second Texas Brine cavern
nearby for which structural concerns recently have been raised, parish
officials said. Water movement in the sinkhole and increased bubbling
along its western edge were also detected Friday, the post says.
Boudreaux said work was stopped within the 71-acre area surrounded by a
berm mandated to encircle the sinkhole. The shutdown area took in the
sinkhole’s lake-like surface. He said crews had been working on oil
retardant boom on the sinkhole at the time the work was stopped about
8:30 a.m. Friday. But he said work related to 3-D seismic surveying of
the subsurface — which involves the firing of small, buried explosive
charges — continued Friday because it is outside the berm area. –The Advocate
Thanks to: http://theextinctionprotocol.wordpress.com
Posted on April 2, 2013 by The Extinction Protocol
April 2, 2013 – LOUISIANA - The
head of Louisiana’s Department of Natural Resources named 13 scientists
and other experts Friday to serve on a blue-ribbon commission tasked
with determining the long-term stability of the area around northern
Assumption Parish’s sinkhole. The 13-acre sinkhole and consequences of
its emergence and continued growth, such as methane trapped under the
Bayou Corne area, have forced the evacuation of 350 residents for more
than seven months. The sinkhole, found in swamps between Bayou Corne and
Grand Bayou on Aug. 3, is believed to have been caused by a failed
Texas Brine Co. LLC cavern mined into the Napoleonville Dome. Members of
the new panel are being asked to set up scientifically based benchmarks
in regard to the sinkhole and then determine when they have been met in
order to give assurances that the Bayou Corne area is safe for the
return of evacuated residents. “The work of this commission is crucial
to the future of public safety in the Bayou Corne area,” DNR Secretary
Stephen Chustz said in a prepared statement announcing the 13
appointments. “We must ensure we have done all that we can to get the
right people to provide the right answers in making recommendations for
the future of the people who want to return,” Chustz said. The secretary
made the appointments in consultation with Jim Welsh, state
Commissioner of Conservation, and Kevin Davis, director of the
Governor’s Office of Homeland Security and Emergency Preparedness, the
statement says. The Office of Conservation is part of DNR. Gov. Bobby
Jindal called for formation of the commission earlier this month after
meeting with Assumption Parish public officials and Texas Brine
executives about the sinkhole. DNR officials said in a statement that
the blue-ribbon commission’s first meeting will be held in early April.
Patrick Courreges, DNR spokesman, has said some of the group’s meetings
would be public, but it was not clear Friday if the panel’s inaugural
session would be open to the public or not. Underscoring the lingering
concerns about the growing sinkhole and when it may stabilize, yet
another round of seismic activity forced parish officials to halt work
around the sinkhole Friday morning for the second time in a little more
than a week, officials said. John Boudreaux, Assumption Parish’s
director of Homeland Security and Emergency Preparedness, said the
seismic activity was detected about 7 a.m. Friday under the sinkhole and
the failed Texas Brine cavern. Seismic monitors detected an increase
Friday in the “very long period” tremors that scientists have said
indicate fluid and gas movement below the sinkhole, parish officials
said in a blog post. Parish officials added that Friday’s seismic
activity was limited to the sinkhole and the Texas Brine cavern. The
activity appears to have had no effect on a second Texas Brine cavern
nearby for which structural concerns recently have been raised, parish
officials said. Water movement in the sinkhole and increased bubbling
along its western edge were also detected Friday, the post says.
Boudreaux said work was stopped within the 71-acre area surrounded by a
berm mandated to encircle the sinkhole. The shutdown area took in the
sinkhole’s lake-like surface. He said crews had been working on oil
retardant boom on the sinkhole at the time the work was stopped about
8:30 a.m. Friday. But he said work related to 3-D seismic surveying of
the subsurface — which involves the firing of small, buried explosive
charges — continued Friday because it is outside the berm area. –The Advocate
Thanks to: http://theextinctionprotocol.wordpress.com