http://enenews.com/category/location/u-s-canada
http://lasinkhole.wordpress.com/
http://gramercyimages.com/blog1/2012/10/14/strategic-reserve-salt-dome-threat-louisiana-sinkhole-grows/
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=i8oB_upP7sE&feature=plcp
and.....
http://www.examiner.com/article/sinkhole-state-ordered-fracking-type-process-might-be-causing-quakes
Sinkhole state-ordered fracking-type process might be causing quakes
Scientists are investigating whether the state-ordered removal of crude and natural gas through hydraulic fracturing of the failed storage cavern in the Napoleonville Salt Dome might be connected to recent earthquakes in the Bayou Corne sinkhole area.
Up to five earthquakes have been recordedin the Bayou Corn sinkhole disaster area since Oct. 16. The quakes have occurred at the northwest corner of the Napoleonville Salt Dome in northern Assumption Parish, according to officials and earthquake researchers Friday, who are looking into whether a frack-type process is causing increased seismic activity over the past week.
“It’s as big as we’ve had recently,” seismologist Dr. Stephen Horton said about Tuesday’s quake.
Horton is a researcher with the University of Memphis Center for Earthquake Research and Information that is contracted by USGS to research the New Madrid Fault and the Bayou Corns disaster.
Cautioning that there is no link so far, John Boudreaux, director of the Assumption Parish Office of Homeland Security and Emergency Preparedness director John Boudreaux said Friday that the team of scientists working with the Department of Natural Resources (DNR) on theBayou Corne sinkhole disaster is investigating the possible link between Texas Brine’s removing crude and natural gas from its failed cavern and the recent earthquakes.
The state Office of Conservation ordered Texas Brine to pump brine into the cavern to push out the crude, similar but not the same as fracking.
Under orders, last week, Texas Brine began extracting the natural gas and oil out of its cavern that has seeped into it from below it.
Dr. Gary Hecox explained Tuesday evening to about 100 residents who gathered for a briefing in Pierre Part that a frack-out had occurred.
At the meeting, Hecox also explained a fracking event had occurred at the dome.
The outer edge of the Napoleonville Dome, not just the breached cavern in it, has collapsed due to what he called a “frack-out,” Hecox said. He explained it was "just like farcking."
Earth flowed into Texas Brine’s formerly plugged and abandoned cavern, squeezing brine inside the cavern enough to raise its pressure, so a “frack out,” a blow-out of the cavern extended to the surface, Hecox explained.
A “frack-out” occurs when hydraulic pressure increases enough to crack the underground formations that then become channels to release the pressure, Hecox has explained.
The frack-out brought up brine, oil and natural gas from natural formations along Napoleonville Salt Dome’s edge, into the overlying water aquifer, and to the surface, according to Hecox.
Hecox also said that compacted earth movement into the cavern created instability that led to the sinkhole. That was before Texas Brine was ordered to "frack."
The 1-mile by 3-mile dome houses over 50 caverns and wells. Texas Brine leases its salt dome site from Occidental Chemical Corp.
The disaster has resulted in government declared state of emergency and a mandatory evacuation that continues to be extended month after month.
The sinkhole Scientific Workgroup has eight theories regarding what has caused the disaster, according to its official update Friday:
"1. Salt Dome moving – natural migration of gas
2. Failed cement casing in OXY #3 well
3. Cavity Failure
4. Salt / Caprock falling from top of the cavern (Natural or Man-made (including penetration into sediments by cavern))
5. Gas storage cavern connections, communications by fractures
6. Low permeability seepage of gas into OXY #3 (source unknown)
7. Regional Tectonic activity (movement on growth faults)
8. A combination of above events"
2. Failed cement casing in OXY #3 well
3. Cavity Failure
4. Salt / Caprock falling from top of the cavern (Natural or Man-made (including penetration into sediments by cavern))
5. Gas storage cavern connections, communications by fractures
6. Low permeability seepage of gas into OXY #3 (source unknown)
7. Regional Tectonic activity (movement on growth faults)
8. A combination of above events"
Sinkhole Censorship
A citizen reporter under the name Idahopicker is gaining Internet popularity with his video presentations in which he contends officials are not being transparent about the sinkhole disaster and operations there.
“There are some specific reasons that they’re not telling you why they are watching these locations,” he says, pointing to locations of the USGS six monitors on the map.
Since uploading his latest video, Detailed: LA Sink Hole / Salt Dome [Collapsing] Explained, Idahopicker has had 1,452 views of it. This is one of at least eleven videos he has posted on YouTube since the sinkhole disaster began on Aug. 3.
The latest video documents government charts, maps and graphs, including seismic helicorder graphs. Idahopicker says the quakes are registering 3-4 on the Richter scale and highlights loss of integrity west of the sinkhole.
(Watch on this page “DETAILED: LA Sink Hole / Salt Dome Calapsing Explained” YouTube by Idahopicker.)
The Advocate reports “fears that additional subsidence events or sinkholes could occur away from the existing sinkhole between Bayou Corne and Grand Bayou and south of La. 70 South,” as this reported indicated earlier this week.
Tuesday evening, Hecox told some 100 residents in Pierre Part that weakening areas of earth around the sinkhole’s rim are moving west. He said that this conforms with the theories that the sinkhole could grow much larger and other sinkholes could form.
Hecox said it is more likely that the existing sinkhole would increase in size, rather than other sinkholes developing there.
Idahopicker highlights government text indicating another “Leaking water well site” near the LaBarre et.al. well in the Napoleonville Salt Dome, west of the sinkhole, where one of six USGS monitors has been strategically placed.
Water is running down into the salt there, according to government data, as Idahopicker highlights. It is near there that the helicorder La 09 has frequently shown seismic activity, including this past week when the jolts were recorded and felt by locals.
“These are the worst charts I’ve seen,” Idahopicker says, showing a Sept. 24 USGS helicorder graph.
Hecox says scientists could not know what was is actually happening in the collapsed dome zone until seismic surveying work is complete. Additional early-warning seismic devices have been ordered.
Horton, the seismologist, said the present quakes are no reason for concern and do not appear to indicate that they are leading to any major geological developments, such as the formation of another sinkhole.
“It doesn’t mean it’s leading to something big or a bigger earthquake. It may be part of a cycle, as these things progress,” he told the Advocate, referring to a cycle of quakes that had occurred from June until the sinkhole developed, but then suddenly halted.
Concerned citizens expressing outrage that national news media is not covering the sinkhole disaster better are turning to citizen reporters, such as on Examiner.com and on YouTube channels.
Adding to citizenry speculation about a media blackout, Idahopicker citizen reporter has documented that YouTube has deleted some of his videos. One of those deleted had 1170 views.
“It had 1170 views and then they chopped it,” Idahopicker says. “YouTube kicked it.
Documenting the YouTube message for viewers to see, he says, “There’s absolutely nothing in here that is inappropriate. It says, ‘Content is inappropriate.’”
“Now they’ve started on my channel. They’ve been doing this on other channels and now they’ve started on mine,” he says.
The deleted video was titled, “25 SEPT. Louisiana sinkhole (2) 3’ gas pipes CAVED / SALT DOME is caving in.”
"Content is inappropriate" because you are actually posting pertinent & informative details,” a commenter says.
“Yes sir, I have 2 missing in my ‘LA brine pool’ playlist too,” k9griffin9’s channel owner says in a comment.
In a related oil and gas cover up news story this week about the "White House hiding bags of dead Gulf of Mexico sea animals in garbage bags," New Orleans-based environmental attorney Stuart Smith highlights in his popular blog how officials cover up and cannot be trusted.
“Yet again, there’s proof that BP — and perhaps more importantly, the federal government — went to great lengths to keep the American people from seeing, let alone knowing about, the worst wildlife devastation from the Deepwater Horizon spill,” Smith stated Friday.
Like citizens who distrust the government and have called for independent monitoring and investigating the sinkhole, Smith says there is ample evidence the same is needed in the BP wrecked Macondo well investigation.
“There needs to be ongoing, aggressive and independent monitoring of what’s really happening at the Deepwater Horizon site," Smith says.
"It would need to be a body with the unsullied reputation of the National Academy of Sciences. Because God knows we can’t trust the usual suspects.”
05:58 AM EST on October 27th, 2012 | 8 comments
http://lasinkhole.wordpress.com/
The Little Known New Madrid Pipeline Bomb
•October 27, 2012 • Leave a Comment
By Zen Gardner -
” . . . there’s also a little known factor that will really make your hair stand on end. The fault zone is criss-crossed with major gas and oil pipelines delivering these volatile energy sources all over the United States. . . . “
article & MAPS – http://www.zengardner.com/the-little-known-new-madrid-pipeline-bomb/
An earthquake in the middle of the country, along the precarious New Madrid fault, could have enormous fiscal and energy consequences. “Virtually every natural gas pipeline in the nation is built over that fault,” Geller says. “You’ll see the explosion reflected off the moon.” –insurancenewsnet.com
Thanks to Climate Viewer for link 
Dave Hodges opinion on the sinkhole story & BP
•October 27, 2012 • Leave a Comment
Dave Hodges, Commonsense Show – Connecting the dots of Bayou Corne with BP oil leak. Methane traveling – “Louisiana Coast to be evacuated?
“I am extremely fearful for the potential consequences which could be catastrophic for many of the 40 million residents in the Gulf.
This topic has largely been swept under the covers by the Obama administration and the mainstream media, with a few exceptions. In this article, it is my intention to bring forth legitimate concerns for public discussion with regard to the safety and welfare of Gulf Coast residents, especially for those people living in Louisiana’s coastal areas. . . “
This topic has largely been swept under the covers by the Obama administration and the mainstream media, with a few exceptions. In this article, it is my intention to bring forth legitimate concerns for public discussion with regard to the safety and welfare of Gulf Coast residents, especially for those people living in Louisiana’s coastal areas. . . “
Expanding Sinkhole Approaches Strategic Reserve
•October 26, 2012 • Leave a Comment
More info - Strategic Petroleum Reserve Storage Sites
Assumption Parish Sends Texas Brine a BIG BILL
•October 26, 2012 • Leave a Comment
Good for them!
Sinkhole cavern owner billed $321,000
Houston-based Texas Brine Co. has been asked to reimburse the Assumption Parish for about$321,000 in expenses so far in its response to a sinkhole the state says has been caused by the company’s failed salt cavern.
Assumption Parish officials have asked the chemical company Texas Brine for $321,000 to pay for its expenses to manage the Bayou Corne emergency situation. The state is blaming Texas Brine for all of the disaster that has been ongoing for over four months . . . .
http://gramercyimages.com/blog1/2012/10/14/strategic-reserve-salt-dome-threat-louisiana-sinkhole-grows/
Gramercy Images News
A Financial Novelty weblog
Strategic Reserve: Salt Dome Threat, Louisiana Sinkhole Grows
without comments
Since Early August, the Bayou Corne sinkhole in Louisiana has grown and shown an oily sheen. Local residents complain about the odor and health issues.
Flyover: Crude Oil now Covers Much of Giant Sinkhole
October 13, 2012
Oil and water can be seen flowing from the sinkhole into the adjacent environment.
Gas Pipeline Found Floating in Giant Sinkhole
October 11, 2012
A 25′ section of pipeline (from Acadian Gas’ pipeline) floated to the surface on the edge of the pipeline right-of-way. The pipeline was emptied previously which made it become bouyant and since the sinkhole occurred there is no earthen cover to keep the pipeline submerged.
Bayou Corne Odor and Symptom Log Results
October 9, 2012
As the sink hole developed, the Bayou Corne/Grand Bayou community began complaining of odors and associated health impacts. Analysis of air samples in the Bayou Corne/Grand Bayou area by the Louisiana Department of Environmental Quality demonstrated that the concentrations of toxic chemicals in the air, including Volatile Organic Compounds such as Benzene, Toluene, Ethyl Benzene and Xylene, were below the Louisiana Ambient Air Standards. However, though the concentrations of toxic chemicals were below acceptable standards, health symptoms continue to be experienced and reported by community members.
The Strategic Petroleum Reserve has many such domes along the Gulf Coast, which of course is being stretched as the N American Continent is pulled into a dome. Is this a major disaster just waiting to happen as the bow worsens before the New Madrid adjusts?
Salt Caverns and Their Use for Disposal of Oil Field Wastes
In the United States, salt domes are found in Texas, Louisiana, and Mississippi, and in the Gulf of Mexico.Salt caverns have been used to store various types of hydrocarbons since the 1940s. The types of products that have been stored in these caverns include liquefied petroleum gas (LPG), propane, butane, ethane, ethylene, fuel oil, gasoline, natural gas, and crude oil. The largest underground storage operations in the United States are part of the U.S. Department of Energy’s (DOE’s) Strategic Petroleum Reserve (SPR). The SPR currently stores about 560 million barrels of crude oil in 62 caverns located at four sites in Louisiana and Texas. Efforts are underway to add another 28 million barrels of crude oil to these sites.
Strategic Petroleum Reserve Storage Sites
Emergency crude oil is stored in the Strategic Petroleum Reserve in salt caverns. Created deep within the massive salt deposits that underlie most of the Texas and Louisiana coastline, the caverns offer the best security and are the most affordable means of storage, costing up to 10 times less than aboveground tanks and 20 times less than hard rock mines. Strategic Reserve oil can be distributed through interstate pipelines to nearly half of the Nation’s oil refineries or loaded into ships or barges for transport to other refineries.
Thursday News
•October 25, 2012 • Leave a Comment
Last night there was a big tremor at the sinkhole. They are looking at info for a cause. It is on the parish blog.
LINK - http://youtu.be/UgGOasqQCvg
BAYOU CORNE, LA (WAFB) - Two new drilling wells are being installed near the Bayou Corne sinkhole site. SHAW has already installed three wells east and west of the site and will be putting another one on its property not far from there.
Assumption Parish Office of Emergency Preparedness officials say the wells will be used to vent off more gas. . . .
Assumption Parish Office of Emergency Preparedness officials say the wells will be used to vent off more gas. . . .
New Helicorder graph: What Fell Down???
see that BIG BLACK BLOB lower right? Kaaaaa-Boom!
Check more activity – http://folkworm.ceri.memphis.edu/heli_temp/
What Level of Governmental "Homeland Security" Is Monitoring The Growing Louisiana Sinkhole?
•October 25, 2012 • Leave a Comment
Back in mid-August, national news covered briefly what ABC News called a “mysterious sinkhole” that had opened up in an Assumption Parish, Louisiana wooded area dotted with gas, brine and waste storage wells. 150 people were evacuated from the rural area surrounding, amid fears of possible explosions and radiation. People are still evacuated, the sinkhole is growing, and it is still “mysterious” what is going on there, but that is not a national news event.
and DHS has that HUGE budget!!
10:45 p.m. Seismic Activity Reported
•October 25, 2012 • Leave a Comment
It has been reported to us that there was a sharp tremor recorded by USGS monitors at approximately 9:06 last night. The tremor was large enough that the body wave phases could easily be identified. The preliminary location was just SE of Oxy #3 cavern at a depth of 500m. There is no additional information specific to this seismic activity at this time.
Looks like they got all the seismic monitors in place! Good thing DNR made up that to-do list for Texas Brine! OPINION: [youtube http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=E1zenyzzkBA&w=460&h=259] LINK - http://youtu.be/E1zenyzzkBA
Sinkhole Expanding UNDER the Pipeline Road into the Woods
•October 24, 2012 • Leave a Comment
Idahopicker points it out in his video just posted – Part 1 about 12 minutes in.
He says the water is spreading and it is going beneath the gravel covered pipeline(making up the pipeline road seen in the fly-overs) and coming up and ponding on the other side.
and....
WE ASK: Why Aren’t There More People Working on the Sinkhole Problem?
•October 24, 2012 • 7 CommentsThe assigned clean up advisers and decision makers from The Shaw Group, Texas Brine and the state of Louisiana seem to be in no rush to ‘solve’ the sinkhole mess.
- They have not begun to vent gasses.
- They were extremely slow in getting a profile of the failed cavern.
- On flyovers only two or so skimming boats (very small recreational craft) are seen on the sinkhole ‘lake’.
- Constant denials the sinkhole is expanding when obviously it is doubling in size and not stopping.
- No ‘live data’ available to the public from the site.
- Very little manpower at the sinkhole.
- No offer to buy out homeowners and no timeline for an offer.
- No outside help is requested via blogs or teleconferencing from other experts.
- No inquiry into relationship between the sinkhole and the BP disaster.
- Denial that the BP spill is still spilling.
- No concern over synthetic lifeforms put into the Gulf to ‘eat’ oil and how that can affect the ecosystem of Louisiana.
- No concern about the cypress tree die off for miles around.
- No nature survey of bird life etc. even though a disappearance of bees would cause havoc with farming in the state and beyond.
- Ignoring evidence the Bayou Corne sinkhole affects events (bubblin, fires etc.) in other parishes.
- Admitting they are in unknown territory intellectually but not asking for outside help.
- Having federal agency experts on site but not telling the public.
- Knowing this is a possible national emergency or event and pretending it is a parish concern only.
- Not announcing contingency plans for placement of livestock in the event of evacuation. This was a suicide issue for farmers in Fukushima’s disaster.
The list goes on and on. Who do they think they are fooling???
WEDNESDAY NEWS
•October 24, 2012 • Leave a Comment
From ENE-News - Gov’t Expert: Louisiana sinkhole disaster unprecedented anywhere in world — Nobody’s ever dealt with this before — Not even any decent case studies that tell us how to proceed (VIDEO)
Frack Out -
Dutchsinse has a mini-summary of the meeting on his blog.
The Advocate - Scientists give explanation for Assumption sinkhole
“Enough earth flowed into the formerly plugged and abandoned cavern to squeeze the brine inside the cavern and raise its pressure so that a “frack out” of the cavern occurred, extending to the surface.”
The Shaw Group’s Dr. Gary Hecox says methane is from old vegetation and natural gas etc. and unrelated to BP. With a straight face. He also made this sinkhole expansion assessment -
Hecox presented a scenario taking into account all the unaccounted-for material that demonstrated the present sinkhole would grow to 1,500 feet in diameter and remain far from any residents. The sinkhole is 550 feet across.
Hecox said the weakening areas of earth around the sinkhole’s rim are moving west and conform with this theory.
Hecox said the weakening areas of earth around the sinkhole’s rim are moving west and conform with this theory.
USGS doesn’t list (STILL!) any seismic monitors in Louisiana, anywhere. And the DNR demand for seismic info from Texas Brine is hours away from their ultimatum deadline. There are other entities for monitoring – see the sidebar.
.
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=i8oB_upP7sE&feature=plcp
and.....
TUESDAY NEWS (before the meeting)
The meeting tonight will probably first get reported on by Rainbeaudais through her YouTube Channel. Any news from it tonight will get put into a separate post.
Community meeting 6 p.m. Tuesday
at St. Joseph the Worker Catholic Church hall
3304 La. 70 S., in Pierre Part.
at St. Joseph the Worker Catholic Church hall
3304 La. 70 S., in Pierre Part.
“The Assumption Parish Homeland Security and Emergency Service director has indicated mounting concerns that Bayou Corne’s sinkhole might have other voids or gaps underground and that more area sinkholes might be forming, topics to be discussed at a resident briefing Tuesday night and another blow to human ecology since a state-contracted expert has advised that the sinkhole is irreparable if fractured.”
[Facebook page mentioned in above article has been added to the sidebar, under "Blogroll"] →
ENE-News – New flyover footage shows dark oil covering giant sinkhole (VIDEO & PHOTO)
New gap developing far from sinkhole? (PHOTO & VIDEO)
. . . .that the volume of the sinkhole is about 2.7 million cubic yards smaller than the amount of subterranean earth believed to have entered the cavern, leading to worries about the voids and additional subsidence in the area. . . .
“The characteristics of the sinkhole remain unchanged.” - Texas Brine, Oct. 22 Update
NEW PHOTOS from Assumption Parish
.
