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Related: Editorials & Other Articles, Issue Forums, Alliance Forums, Region Forums'The biggest ongoing disaster in the United States you haven't heard of'
http://www.dailykos.com/story/2013/08/22/1233033/--The-biggest-ongoing-disaster-in-the-United-States-you-haven-t-heard-ofThu Aug 22, 2013 at 07:35 AM PDT
'The biggest ongoing disaster in the United States you haven't heard of'
by Jen Hayden
Incredible video of a sinkhole, located south of Baton Rouge, Louisiana, swallowing whole trees, @ link~
Tim Murphy at Mother Jones described the sinkhole at Bayou Corne as "the biggest ongoing disaster in the United States you haven't heard of."
http://www.motherjones.com/environment/2013/08/bayou-corne-sinkhole-disaster-louisiana-texas-brine
Texas Brine's operation sits atop a three-mile-wide, mile-plus-deep salt deposit known as the Napoleonville Dome, which is sheathed by a layer of oil and natural gas, a common feature of the salt domes prevalent in Gulf Coast states. The company specializes in a process known as injection mining, and it had sunk a series of wells deep into the salt dome, flushing them out with high-pressure streams of freshwater and pumping the resulting saltwater to the surface. From there, the brine is piped and trucked to refineries along the Mississippi River and broken down into sodium hydroxide and chlorine for use in manufacturing everything from paper to medical supplies.
Bayou Corne is the biggest ongoing disaster in the United States you haven't heard of.
What happened in Bayou Corne, as near as anyone can tell, is that one of the salt caverns Texas Brine hollowed outa mine dubbed Oxy3collapsed. The sinkhole initially spanned about an acre. Today it covers more than 24 acres and is an estimated 750 feet deep. It subsists on a diet of swamp life and cypress trees, which it occasionally swallows whole. It celebrated its first birthday recently, and like most one-year-olds, it is both growing and prone to uncontrollable burps, in which a noxious brew of crude oil and rotten debris bubbles to the surface. But the biggest danger is invisible; the collapse unlocked tens of millions of cubic feet of explosive gases, which have seeped into the aquifer and wafted up to the community. The town blames the regulators. The regulators blame Texas Brine. Texas Brine blames some other company, or maybe the regulators, or maybe just God.
PDJane
(10,103 posts)Stupid human tricks.
bananas
(27,509 posts)TV News video from one week after the sinkhole started:
Local news reports cavern filled with radioactive material may have collapsed Concerns swarm about what could leak out around sinkhole (VIDEO)
Published: August 10th, 2012 at 2:23 pm ET
35 comments
Title: Authorities monitor for radiation near sinkhole
Source: WBRZ Baton Rouge
Date: August 9, 2012
At 0:15 in
Anchor: Some are worried about radiation in the area now
Reporter: That fear comes after Texas Brine was given the green light to fill its brine cavern with naturally occurring radioactive material years ago.
Now that scientist believe that cavern may have collapsed, concerns swarm about what could leak out
(embedded tv news video)
See also:
National Guard: Giant sinkhole is growing in Louisiana -- Tests for radioactive materials in air and water underway -- Site used for oil and gas production (VIDEO)
Sheriff Warns: Growing sinkhole could be catastrophic -- 1.5 million barrels of liquid butane nearby -- Over 300 feet wide, up to 400 feet deep
Related Posts
Officials: Large chunks were knocked off salt dome when cavern collapsed Giant sinkhole now getting deeper November 30, 2012
Company Officials: Tremors have damaged salt cavern below sinkhole 1,300 ft shallower than expected Dense material has fallen to bottom September 25, 2012
TV: Unidentfied and dense material in cavern below sinkhole Not like material normally found there -Officials (VIDEO) September 25, 2012
Press Conference: Cavern below sinkhole has failed and collapsed Collapse may be ongoing (VIDEO) September 26, 2012
Pressure from cavern below giant sinkhole near 1,000 psi Trying to extract hydrocarbon material from well October 4, 2012
starroute
(12,977 posts)You may have to wade through a lot of UFO and Bigfoot stories, but you can also get solid news on under-reported topics at sites like http://www.anomalist.com/ and http://www.dailygrail.com/
PDJane
(10,103 posts)This, too, was forecast by scientific theory. We're an amazing species.
RKP5637
(67,112 posts)RebelOne
(30,947 posts)It showed trees being swallowed up. In fact, they are showing it now on our local Atlanta TV station.
zipplewrath
(16,646 posts)I haven't heard about it in a long time though.
hunter
(38,328 posts)A very similar sort of catastrophe:
http://news.nationalgeographic.com/news/2011/03/pictures/110304-mud-volcano-indonesia-java-erupt-26-years
A HERETIC I AM
(24,380 posts)And it will only put up with so much shit.
superpatriotman
(6,252 posts)Does anyone know what that symbolizes?
Spitfire of ATJ
(32,723 posts)UtahLib
(3,179 posts)such catastrophes as long as companies are given free reign, in regard to money making schemes, and are allowed to escape responsibility or suffer consequences for the disastrous results.
RKP5637
(67,112 posts)cynzke
(1,254 posts)who needs the EPA. Use the taxpayers to pay for cleanup.
RedCloud
(9,230 posts)kentuck
(111,110 posts)Roy Rolling
(6,938 posts)Thanks, Obama!
abelenkpe
(9,933 posts)And not the company responsible?
Spitfire of ATJ
(32,723 posts)And a few right wing preachers are probably saying bat winged demons are gonna fly out because Obama is in the White House.
KansDem
(28,498 posts)Spitfire of ATJ
(32,723 posts)They're stupid for believing the same people who lied the country into a war for fun and profit.
quakerboy
(13,921 posts)following safety rules?
I mean, a company can only do so much unless an outside source regulates it.
At least in this specific incident. But not in general. Because that would be over regulation. Until it effects you and your home. Then its common sense.
Voice for Peace
(13,141 posts)blackspade
(10,056 posts)libodem
(19,288 posts)Jindal will cut them an extra better tax break and give them a prize, for distruction of the environment, which all Republicans FN hate so much.
If the whole state sunk into a stinking, belching, mud pit Jindal, would never require another Viagra, again.
malaise
(269,186 posts)These corporations are beyond irresponsible and they are aided and abetted by politicians
Fire Walk With Me
(38,893 posts)Curmudgeoness
(18,219 posts)WTF! I am totally amazed at the things that are not reported...at least not reported outside of the area that they happen.
We still have no idea what we are doing in relation to mining and drilling deep into the earth. We will learn the hard way.
livingwagenow
(373 posts)JayhawkSD
(3,163 posts)It names names. It gives facts. Itdescribes what the company does and how it does it. It quotes people who say in words that they have been onsite and have inspected the problem. It gives dates. It describes the process that are used and how long they have been neing used.
Kristopher, please note: I am not doing what you accuse me of "always doing." This is a real live, honest to God journalist who investigates and actually writes news. Who's the damned troll?
sigmasix
(794 posts)Teabagger America: socialized cost, privatized profit.
Why do teabaggers hate America?
kelliekat44
(7,759 posts)Bolo Boffin
(23,796 posts)blkmusclmachine
(16,149 posts)Total destruction for as far as the eye can see. In the full-size image of the poster, the only "peace" is the little girl sitting at her desk with a Cross shining down on her from the clouds overhead. Very creepy!