BAYOU CORNE, LA (WAFB) -
More
information will be given Tuesday about current efforts to contain the giant
sinkhole in south Louisiana.
Texas Brine
and Assumption Parish officials will hold an informational meeting at 5:30 p.m.
to bring the community up to speed on the latest developments.
The focus
will be on those vent wells siphoning gas from beneath the ground.
The meeting
will be held at the command center in Bayou Corne.
History
of the Sinkhole
The
sinkhole opened up in August 2012 and was roughly 1/24 of the size it is now.
The sinkhole formed when an underground salt cavern collapsed.
In the
past, seismic activity is reported, then the sinkhole burps up debris and then
a slough-in happens. Burps occur when air and gas from deep in the sinkhole
bubbles up. It can cause debris and an oily substance to float to the top. A
slough-in is when the sinkhole swallows trees and land that is on the edge of
the sinkhole.
Berms were
placed around the sinkhole shortly after it opened up to keep the oily, debris
filled water contained to the sinkhole area so it would not contaminate the
area bayous.
It has more
than a year since hundreds living near the giant sinkhole were forced from
their homes.
Bubbles
were spotted in Bayou Corne and Grand Bayou in June 2012. Two months later, the
ground opened up and left what is now a 24-acre sinkhole. Residents were
evacuated and the most affected residents began receiving weekly checks from
Texas-Brine in the amount of $875 per week. Texas Brine owns the salt cavern
that collapsed, causing the sinkhole.
On August
2, Gov. Bobby Jindal and Attorney General Buddy Caldwell announced the state
will be suing Texas Brine for environmental damages caused by the failed Texas
Brine cavern.
Parish and
Texas Brine officials agree the situation is far from over. 3D seismic surveys
show the sinkhole itself it beginning to slow and stabilize, but the recovery
is focused on another danger; natural gas gathering underneath a nearby
aquifer.
Copyright
2014 WAFB. All rights
reserved.
Source: Assumption Parish OEP
