Tremors felt 45 miles away from Bayou Corne Sinkhole!

How long will this take to build and how long will it be enough. I think they do not realise or acknowledge the potential magnitude of this event which is being played out here.

reply to post by qmantoo


Well if you read here sounds like there not too much in a hurry. Looks to be a year and a half to get project completed.

Project Description


Also trying to find out were the THE LOUISIANA SINKHOLE BUGLE is getting this info from a couple of days ago. They are stating they have added butane or propane? to one of there caverns near the sinkhole if i am reading that correctly?

Crosstex has added an out-of-date (6- 18) “update’[sic] that says they are ADDING butane to their unstable cavern at Bayou Corne. They added 11,527 barrels of propane to Well #1 between June 9 to June 18. Well #2 has the LPG mix in it. Today is the 25th

Bugle Website

Ok, well maybe we should start to keep an eye on the other companies who own/lease caverns around that area.

We dont know whether they are moving gas from one (possibly more dangerous) cavern to another simply because there is too much to pipe out to normal users. After all, you cannot force people to use more gas just because you are in a fix and need it moved out.

I suspect they are panicing and this is what it is, because it would be irresponsible to move gas into the area when they know (probably better than we do) that the salt dome might be collapsing.

Anyway, whether it is this or not, it is still rather alarming if it is true.

I did a bit of digging and apart from the Assumption wordpress site which I can't see, there were these things which referenced the 2 Crosstex caverns which are about 1600, and 2500 feet away from the sinkhole (as it was then in 2012)
===============================
Sinkhole emergency butane flared 40 feet as seismic activity increased 12Oct12

One of Crosstex’s two salt cavern in the 1-mile by 3-mile Napoleonville Salt Dome, No. 2 cavern, has been holding 940,000 barrels of liquid butane under pressure 1,600 feet from the sinkhole.

The Crosstex butane has been stored over half a mile below ground. The company agreed to move its butane from Cavern (Well) No. 2 to its other cavern in the salt dome, Cavern (Well) No. 1 that is another 1000 feet from the sinkhole, as a precaution.

"We are continuing to move product from the well closest to the slurry to the well furthest from the slurry and the process is going as planned," McMillan told Dupré. "We expect the process to take a few months."

...

Scientists: Crosstex butane report on no danger flawed
In early September, scientists Dr. Brown and Steve Knudsen had analyzed the butane report related to the sinkhole and found it to be flawed.
“If the butane has access to the air, then it would start to evaporate and disperse into the air, neuroscientist Dr. Brown and working physicist Steve Knudsen said last month in interviews with Dupré.

Butane is a highly volatile liquid, meaning it evaporates quickly.

“Since it hugs the ground, it could suffocate animals including people,” Dr. Brown had said. “If it comes in contact with a spark or flame, it is potentially explosive, depending on the amount released and availability of oxygen.

==========================================
In the FAQ pdf
dnr.louisiana.gov...

the Frequently Asked Questions released 30th Oct 2012 There is a whole section on the Crosstex wells and the Butane in them.

=====================================================


Crosstex plans to transfer butane 21Aug12

Crosstex has two caverns at its salt dome facility south of La. 70 South between Bayou Corne and Grand Bayou.
The cavern now holding the 940,000 barrels of liquid butane is 1,500 feet from the sinkhole.
The cavern Crosstex plans to move the butane into is 2,500 feet from the sinkhole, McMillan said.
Labeled “Well #1,” that cavern is filled with brine and empty of hydrocarbons, company officials told state regulators.
The cavern has a capacity of 1.7 million barrels and had held propane early this year, according to filings with the U.S. Securities and Exchange Commission.

==================================

Crosstex to relocate pipeline near Bayou Corne sinkhole 04Sep12

Crosstex Energy LP will reroute its 36-inch natural gas pipeline located near the Bayou Corne sinkhole, a project that will cost $20 million to $25 million and take around a year to complete, according to the Dallas-based company.
Discovery of the sinkhole Aug. 3 forced the company to close a section of the pipeline and secure alternative natural gas supplies for its customers, Crosstex said. Closing that section of pipeline is costing Crosstex around $250,000 to $300,000 a month.
Crosstex Energy is looking into recovering its losses from the “responsible parties and insurance coverage,” the company said.

State Expert: We’re now looking at the stability of 7 salt caverns by giant sinkhole — We used to be mainly worried about just one — “A lot of things going on” (VIDEO)
I realise this is another old one, but the comments give some background information are excellent and which may be useful to someone in the future. There is really too much to quote here except for a small example. The second para is interesting.

I hope FREEDOMROX does not mind me reposting his/her comments found at the bottom of this article on enenews

FREEDOMROX February 11, 2013 at 5:05 pm
Also, Dow reports a January 30 DNR Directive that has not shown up yet, and most likely is dealing with DOW’s PDK logs which cannot detect methane in their enormous water wells.
If you haven’t read anything about the January 15 directive, then you will find quite a bit of info in there, and a revelation about seismic events being recorded in Cavern #1. This is the shallowest and closest to the surface cavern that sits directly on a shale intrusion, so I have wondered how long it would take for them to notice it would be shook more than most of the other caverns.
It is claimed that Oxy #1 is not used, but since it is not plugged and abandoned, then it must have brine in it to maintain integrity, and is where the permanent geo string will be located.
Directive: dnr.louisiana.gov...
Crosstex is about down to it’s lowest cavern stability point, finally. About 10000 barrels are considered maintenance levels. Still no results back from Shaw on the new bubble site found nearly two weeks ago.

Feb. 8, 2013 report for Crosstex
Well #1 – 25,500barrels of normal butane
Well #2 – 10,032barrels of normal butane (this is the butane cavern closest to Oxy #3)
/bl87dkb

FREEDOMROX February 11, 2013 at 6:30 pm
Upon further investigation, this directive also tells a very sordid story of Hooker #1 Oil Well. A drama in and of itself.
The well was first drilled and completed in 1986 and was a 6300 ft. borehole down to the depleted formation shown in the 2007 3-D survey.
It changed hands a few times until Self Service Oil took it over in 2006, then sometime between then and 2010, just up and walked off.
Orphaned without a word to anyone. The state had to come in and P&A the well themselves. This was an open well, a fire hazard on the surface and right next door to the Oxy #3 cavern and at the same depths, Unreal.
This depletion of this formation right next door to Oxy 3 and the salt dome may have had a role to play in all of this. Just absolutely mind-blowing the level of irresponsibility, and a "I don't give a damn," attitude.

ucmwww.dnr.state.la.us...
and
ucmwww.dnr.state.la.us...

...and this

Subsidence rates in shale are far lower in risk, than it is in the lighter salts, and mainly the shales are what have been most affected. Yes, although an accidental oil field play, and other such considerations, the main problem now is to vent the gas under the homes, or you will see subsidence, but from soil failures due to gas, and not the sinkhole

Well, did it ever occur to you that the same damages could just as easily have been caused by land expansion due to the gas build up under the whole community without a venting plan? Would not expansion cause the same damages?
If so, then what will happen when the gases are relieved and the ground settles and not just back to normal levels, but possibly even lower levels? What kind of damage can we expect then?

Also

FREEDOMROX February 12, 2013 at 1:56 am
Nope, cover story, they lied. It takes three months for two full caverns to be emptied. Neither was completely full. It has been a give and take, and then off to the customer when demand set in.
Now is the only time they may begin to hurt, since reserves in both caverns are low. Not to worry though, any new infusions are fully allowed into CR #1, unless conditions change.
They pulled a fast one, and maximizes profits, during a difficult two quarters, and their shareholders are thrilled!

1995 Sinkhole Progression at Weeks Island How a sinkhole develops.

I think we should be monitoring the surrounding areas for signs that the whole region is destabilising. Some of the items on this flutrackers forum suggest that there may be a link to other events in the region.

reply to post by qmantoo


Qmantoo, I just wanted to say "thank you" for finding the Freedomrox Blog--what a wealth of information.

I thoroughly enjoyed their 31 March entry, that proposes the mechanism pushing the oil & gas up through the disturbed rock zone to the sinkhole is from the waste-water injection wells operated by FAS just west of the sinkhole. Really interesting and well documented reading!

There are 2 new short flyover videos linked from the policy jury blog-- the south berm/road still looks saturated to me.

- Built two (2) access pads on Monday (6/24) to the south of Crawfish Stew to allow for CPT rig access.
- Approximately 790 linear feet (LF) of clay was placed on the south berm on Monday (6/24).
- 200 LF of clay was placed on the exposed GCL on the west berm extension on Monday (6/24)
- Geotextile fabric and limestone were placed on the north berm, and a portion of the sinkhole access road on Monday 6/24)
Findings- Based
on the limited data reviewed to date, it does not appear that chemical exposure of
site-related contaminants poses a public health risk to individuals in the immediate
area of Bayou Corne for the time period and chemicals sampled
• There were ~5 MEQs yesterday and no MEQs since midnight. There were ~10 VLP events yesterday
and little VLP activity since midnight. Seismic level is at Code 1
• Continue site preparation for installation of monitoring equipment at site #2
• Texas Brine contractor completed the installation of 116pairs/59 properties (H2S & LEL) of in-home monitors as of 4 June

Next
Operational Period (25 - 28 June 2013)
Incident Action Plan

Assumption Parish Operational Situation Summary

reply to post by Olivine

I saw those flyovers and I noticed that the landing pad and part of the road/berm they are building is quite wet looking. Makes me think that those ares will soon be lost. I think the road area has already been repaired once in that area.

I agree with Olivine, Freedomrox is a great site. He really puts much research into anything he writes. Thanks for posting it Qmantoo. I am glad you guys are keeping this thread going. I pop in occasionally and check on the sinkhole daily but summer is always busy.

Buyouts are still in the works. Have the lawsuits being represented by Brochovich been dropped?

Texas Brine faced a Monday court-imposed deadline to settle with residents who had not sued the company. Texas Brine spokesman Sonny Cranch says U.S. District Judge Jay C. Zainey on Tuesday extended that deadline until July 31. Branch says the company had been negotiating settlements with 103 property owners. He says there were legitimate settlement talks with 92 of them, including 44 who accepted buyouts. Cranch says 41 other property owners say they want to continue direct negotiations, and will get that chance with Zainey's ruling.

Deadline extended for Bayou Corne buyouts

Love it when the sinkhole gets coverage.
Giant, oil-belching sinkhole dooms more than 100 homes in Louisiana

To me this sounds like there trying to get the evacuation lifted as long as some "certain criteria" is met.

Blue Ribbon Commission Update
The Blue Ribbon Commission on Bayou Corne and Grand Bayou Public Safety continues its efforts toward reaching its goal of setting safety benchmarks for the Bayou Corne and Grand Bayou communities.

While the BRC efforts are ongoing and more work is needed before the Commission finalizes its recommendations, the panel of experts have reached consensus on some fundamental benchmarks.

The commissioners agreed that the higher priority safety issues for the public are related to methane and hydrogen sulfide, while stability issues are more long-term in nature. More specifically, the basic framework for recommendations related to issues associated with methane and hydrogen sulfide are as follows:

-In order to lift the evacuation order, gas pressure in the MRAA and overlying aquitard has to be maintained at or below hydrostatic pressure.

-Mitigation (such as barrier creation, sub-slab depressurization, ventilation) at each dwelling that is slab-on-grade or has enclosed crawl spaces needs to be defined as a second line of defense against gas accumulation. If conditions do not allow an effective mitigation system, indoor air monitoring is required.

-Criteria for concluding that the threat from hydrogen sulfide gas is not a concern or is adequately controlled need to e established.

Additionally, the Commission will review 3D Seismic results and are working to define and review modeling efforts that will assist in establishing and determining the timeframes necessary to meet safety benchmarks. The BRC is also developing the requirements and framework for long-term monitoring programs for both gas and stability issues as this will be critical in ensuring long-term safety of the community. In the short term, the BRC is also establishing specific requirements to collect data and information that is needed to set benchmarks and expedite the response effort.

Assumption Parish Police Jury

Anyone found a list of members of the Blue Ribbon Commission? I bet a pound to a penny that there are many oil and gas people on that commission and probably more than one Texas Brine person and Crosstex person too. Have to look after their interests and those of the industry.

It would be good if we, the public, could see the data that the commission have used to make their 'recommendations'. I very much doubt whether we will see it for a few months yet as they would not want awkward questions when they release their report.

I really wonder what the local news services are doing to hunt out and badger people for the latest information. I suspect that they just pretty much sit back and wait for the information to come to them in the form of press releases and public meetings which they can roll up and take notes and then report on in their newspaper afterwards. Whatever happened to investagative journalism? Maybe it is a dangerous occupation these days.

reply to post by qmantoo

Here is some info on the "Blue Ribbon" Committee.
[url=http://dnr.louisiana.gov/index.cfm?minflow evaluation

So far they have failed to impress. The first thing they put out was a really pretty power point, spouting nothing new. I personally feel like this committee is like every other gov't committee. A waste of money and time. I think this is just going to a a feel good, look we do care, look we formed a committee to try to fix things...blah, blah, blah.

The members named to the Commission are:
Pierre Berest, Ph.D., Research Director at France’s Ecole Polytechnique, member of French Commission for Underground Storage Safety, former president of the Salt Mining Research Institute
David Borns, Ph.D., Geotechnology and Engineering Program Manager for Sandia National Laboratories, research focused on subsurface monitoring for environmental applications, risk assessments and simulations J.C. Chamberlain, 12-year resident of Bayou Corne area, 30 years of industrial experience
Randall Charbeneau, Ph.D., Assistant Vice Chancellor for Research with University of Texas-Austin’s Center for Research in Water Resources, former member of Science Advisory Committee for EPA Underground Injection Control program, former chairman of review panel for EPA’s Robert S. Kerr Environmental Research Laboratory Groundwater Modeling Research
Doug Duncan, Associate Coordinator of U.S. Geological Survey Energy Resource Program, research focused geologically based energy resources and impacts to environmental and human health
Blayne Hartman, Ph.D., Geochemist with Hartman Environmental Geoscience, contributor to regulatory guidance documents on vapor intrusion for EPA and several state agencies
Gary Hecox, Ph.D., Senior Hydrogeologist and GIS Analyst with CB&I, technical lead for CB&I Bayou Corne response team
James Linn, Ph.D., Geotechnical consultant, former president of Solution Mining Research Institute, former Underground Storage Technology Manager for Sandia National Laboratories
Denis O’Carroll, Ph.D., Associate Professor for University of Western Ontario’s Department of Civil and Environmental Engineering, research focused on groundwater contamination and remediation
Will Pettitt, Ph.D., Vice President of Itasca Group, member of microseismic and geomechnics team in ongoing Bayou Corne response
John Rogers Smith, Ph.D., Associate Professor with LSU’s Craft & Hawkins Department of Petroleum Engineering, consulting engineer for federal Oil Spill Commission on events leading to 2010 Deepwater Horizon accident
Thomas Van Biersel, Ph.D., Hydrogeologist with Louisiana Department of Natural Resources, former Assistant Professor with Louisiana Geological Survey at LSU, coordinator for Science Work Group advising Bayou Corne response
John Voigt, Executive Director of Solution Mining Research Institute, President of Voigt Mining and Geotechnical, specializing in salt geology and brine/water inflow evaluation

Blue Ribbon Members

Anyways there is a lovely power point that has their smiling pictures. I think they put it out late March/early April. Plus they had a meeting and toured the area. During their 1st meeting some attended via phone.

Y'all are correct to say conflict of interest. Most of the people on the Blue Ribbon list has considerable amount of luggage when it comes to conflict of interest.

reply to post by lurksoften


I'm still waiting on LA Dept. of NatResources to release the results of the Aerial EM (electro-magnetic) survey of the area. On page 18, of the report you linked to, it states the survey was completed on May 4th. Every subsequent update states they are still processing the data.
I get that it takes a while to process the raw data, but 8 weeks? c'mon...

Do you think they are foot-dragging this, because it shows a larger problem?

Do you think they are foot-dragging this, because it shows a larger problem?

They have not replied to my request for data either. I think we have to realise that they are going to be like TEPCO at Fukushima - where other more important agendas override the principle of saving the people.

Basically, there is nothing more important here than the people who are losing their houses, property, way-of-life, etc and of course, the potential danger that the area is under. By keeping everyone in the dark until it is too late, they are effectively compounding the problem. Firstly there is no up-to-date information on which people can make their own decisions about their own future, and secondly, the is no up-to-date and COMPLETE data about the microquakes. This would alert people further afield if their area was likely to suffer the same fate.

The only reason I can think of is that there is too much money at stake (both the local economy and the companies who have businesses in the area) to allow the real situation to be revealed. It is said that Louisiana is one of the main US regions for oil and gas and so a massive disaster here could affect the economy of the whole country by lowering the share prices of the companies involved. Not only that, but I think that they genuinely dont know what to do if the (real) worst case scenarios were to be played out.

The government culture seems to be to clam-up and not give out any information unless it is either absolutely necessary or expedient to do so, and to play down any developing crisis in case it provokes a civil disturbance - which any large scale disaster would.

We also have to realise that oil companies are very powerful and alledgedly have their own fix-it boys who fix small 'problems' where needed. No-one wants to be 'fixed' do they?

reply to post by qmantoo


Louisiana is a key to energy production in the US. If I am correct it counts for about 1/3 of energy production in the country. That along with the logistics of the oil and natural gas, it makes Louisiana one of the more important states for the economy to continue running.

When Deepwater Horizon happened followed by the moratorium, the local economy almost came to a stand still. I even lost money in the restaurant industry at the time because of that.

If they are slow on their feet it is because Louisiana's government has been constantly corrupt since 1812.

Unfortunately Google has stopped (1st July) their RSS feed reader and alerts can now only be sent by email. I was relying on the RSS feed to bring in many different aspects of these disasters, which means I will now have to go off and dream up some other way to automatically search and process the info from search engines. Oh well, nothing stays the same and maybe the new will be better than the old, who knows.

Assumption Parish Operational Situation Summary

- Began pressure monitoring operations on Monday (7/1)
- A total of 480 LF of GCL and clay were placed on the western side of the GEO-1 pad on Friday (6/28) and Monday (7/1)
- Completed 12 density tests on the south and east berms on Sunday (6/30); All passing.
- Placed 622 LF of clay on the south berm on Monday (7/1)
- Built up low areas on Rig Rd and rebuild pads and ORW-7 & 8 on Monday (7/1)
- Completed 20 density tests on Monday (7/1) on the beginning of Rig Rd, and the west berm: all passed.
- Completed installation of ORW 40 on Friday (6/28)
- Barton maintenance Change Chart paper @ ORW 17 on Saturday (6/29)
- Repaired leaks on master valve fittings on ORW 38 on Saturday (6/29)
- Pumped ORW 38 on Saturday (6/29)
- Installed ORW 39 on Saturday (6/29)
- Completed water level survey at ORW wells: 2, 3, 5, 8, 11, 13, 16, 17, 18, 26, 28 & 27 on Sunday (6/30)
- Installed valves, fittings and tubing to vent GOW-9-2 and GOW-9-3 to the flare on Sunday (6/30). Opened ORW-9 as well; By end of day the ROI
wells showed no pressure, ORW-9 stable at 35 psi; flaring
- Developed ORW 40 on Sunday (6/30)
- Installed packers in ROI wells at ORW 9 (GOW-9-4 and GOW-9-3) on Monday (7/1)
- Installed the well head at ORW-39 on Monday (7/1)
- Removed packer at GOW-5-2 on Monday (7/1)
- Installed transducers in GOW-5-2 and GOW-5-3 on Monday (7/1)
- Completed CPT 37W (intersection of Crawfish Stew and Sauce Piquante) on Friday (6/28)
- Completed data testing soundings at CPT-32W and CPT 24WR in order to verify, calibrate, and compare CPT rigs for sand zones
- Completed CPT 38w (south end of Crawfish Stew Street) on Monday (7/1)

• University of Memphis:
• The MEQ rate has been very low for the last 9 days. The VLP rate has varied over that time with ~15
VLP events detected yesterday. Seismic level is at Code 1 (7/2)

Next
Operational Period (02 - 09 July 2013)
Incident Action Plan

Assumption Parish Operation Summary

Also the Department of Natural Resources has added another 21 days of reports to each company and what there doing on this LIST.

reply to post by lurksoften


Fly over video 7/2/2013