Sinkholes
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Attention

Louisiana sinkhole remains unexplained by Texas brine company


Clarion Ledger
Sat, 11 Aug 2012 14:30 UTC
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© Associated PressBubbles come to the surface where pipelines come across Bayou Corne near Pierre Part, La.
Officials at a Houston-based brine company said Friday it will be at least 40 days before they get definitive answers about an enormous Louisiana sinkhole that opened up in Assumption Parish.

Mark Cartwright, president of United Brine Services, a subsidiary of Texas Brine Co., said the company spent the last week "intensely focused" on an emergency response as they try to figure out the cause behind a sinkhole near Bayou Corne.

Cartwright said they'll be drilling a relief well to investigate a brine cavern they own, which is housed within the Napoleonville salt dome. It will take at least 40 days to drill the well, and scientists have speculated that the 372-foot-wide and 422-foot-deep sinkhole might be related to structural problems within the cavern, he said.

"Our efforts are going to be more focused on diagnostics, and looking into what caused this event," Cartwright said at a press conference in Gonzales.

Commissioner of Conservation Jim Welsh ordered the company Thursday to drill a well and investigate the salt cavern and "further evaluate potential causes of the subsidence near its well site," as well as obtain samples of cavern content.
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Blackbox

Mysterious Louisiana Sinkhole Raises Concerns of Explosions and Radiation

Christina Ng
Yahoo News / Associated Press
Tue, 14 Aug 2012 09:23 UTC
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A nearly 400-foot deep sinkhole in Louisiana has swallowed all of the trees in its area and enacted a mandatory evacuation order for about 150 residences for fear of potential radiation and explosions.

The 400-square-foot gaping hole is in Assumption Parish, La., about 50 miles south of Baton Rouge.

The sinkhole sits in the middle of a heavily wooded space where it has consumed all of the soaring cypress trees that had been there. Flyover photos show some of the treetops still visible through the mud.

Authorities enacted a mandatory evacuation for between 100 and150 homes in the area, but most people have chosen to stay, according to the Mayor's Office of Emergency Preparedness. If any of the dangers seem to become more imminent, the order will be escalated to a forced evacuation.
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Arrow Down

Flyover reveals Louisiana sinkhole has grown


WAFB
Fri, 10 Aug 2012 06:07 UTC

    • Members of a Louisiana National Guard crew that flew over the giant sink hole in Assumption Parish reported it is now larger.

    The helicopter crew used infrared equipment to observe a 10 to 20 foot growth on the north and south ends.

    Officials have ordered Texas Brine, the company responsible for a salt cavern in the Bayou Corne area, to immediately drill a relief well to investigate.

    Meanwhile, scientists with the Louisiana Department of Environmental Quality were on site testing Thursday for naturally occurring radioactive materials.
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    Bizarro Earth

    Sinkhole closes Colorado Highway 67 north of Cripple Creek

    Erin Udell
    The Denver Post
    Sat, 11 Aug 2012 22:27 UTC
    sinkhole
    © Fox31
    A sinkhole has closed lanes to north- and southbound traffic on Colorado 67 north of Cripple Creek as crews work to determine its severity.

    According to the Colorado Department of Transportation, crews closed the area between mile markers 53 and 56 around 10:30 a.m. Saturday and are diverting traffic to local county roads.

    Drivers also are encouraged to use a detour in place at Teller County Road 82.

    The hole was originally called in at 2 feet wide, but, according to a report by The (Colorado Springs) Gazette, when crews arrived it had grown to about 5 feet wide and 20 feet deep.
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    Sherlock

    Louisiana Probes Cause of Massive Bayou Sinkhole

    Melissa Gray
    CNN
    Fri, 10 Aug 2012 08:22 UTC

    Louisiana officials are investigating whether an underground salt cavern may be responsible for a large sinkhole that has swallowed 100-foot-tall cypress trees and prompted evacuations in a southern Louisiana bayou.

    The state's Department of Natural Resources ordered Texas Brine Company, which mines the cavern, to drill a well into the cavern to see whether it caused the dark gray slurry-filled hole nearby.

    Measurements taken Monday showed the sinkhole measures 324 feet in diameter and is 50 feet deep, but in one corner it goes down 422 feet, said John Boudreaux, director of the Office of Homeland Security in Assumption Parish, about 30 miles south of Baton Rouge.

    Assumption Parish Police said Thursday the sinkhole has since grown another 10 to 20 feet.
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    Arrow Down

    Giant sinkholes in Brooklyn worry residents

    Ellyn Marks
    Pix 11
    Thu, 09 Aug 2012 06:24 UTC

    It's not the sky that's falling, but the earth opening up in a couple of spots in Bay Ridge, that has some of its residents rattled.

    Mimi Carroll lives near the giant sinkhole on 79th Street that came close to swallowing a car last Wednesday.

    "Thank God there wasn't a car going down the street at the time," she said. "So then it's not just damage to the street, and property, it's people."

    But the mother of all sinkholes in the neighborhood was the cave-in at 92nd Street and Third Avenue at the end of June. Workers have yet to reach the damaged portion of the sewer main 70 feet below street level. It's expected to be weeks before the work is completed and the street reopened.

    "We have to deal with keeping the hole structurally sound. We have to deal with buildings around us being shaken, and we have a lot of concerns from gas lines to electric," said construction worker George Aragona.
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    Bizarro Earth

    Sudden deep sinkhole shocks Tennessee town

    Stacye Sullivan
    The Tennessean
    Tue, 31 Jul 2012 16:58 UTC
    sinkhole
    © Stacye Sullivan/The Fairview ObserverPhillip Rykwalder with Cave Now checks the rope of Sara Goning as she ascends into the sinkhole on Cumberland Drive.
    On the afternoon of July 19, Fairview resident Trish Parker wanted to get her yard cut before the predicted rain later that evening generated another grass growth spurt. Imagine the shock when Trish and her husband Dean walked outside the next morning to discover what was generated in their side yard was a super-sized sinkhole.

    "My wife just cut the grass in that very spot yesterday," explained Dean, as he looked down into the ten-foot-wide hole.

    The sinkhole is located along the property line between the Parker's property and neighbors Michael and Jennifer King. It sits approximately 75 feet from the Parker's home and 105 feet from the center line of Cumberland Drive.

    The Parkers began making calls and Williamson County Emergency Management arrived on the scene to do an initial assessment, placing caution tape around the sink hole so that nearby neighborhood children would be warned of the danger.

    Family friend and local resident Steven Brison came by on Sunday afternoon and rappelled down into the nine-foot wide hole for a closer look.
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    Bizarro Earth

    Louisiana's Bayou Corne Evacuated: Swamp Gas Turns into Monster Sinkhole


    WBRZ
    Fri, 03 Aug 2012 10:27 UTC

    Napoleonville - Gov. Bobby Jindal declared a state of emergency Friday in Assumption Parish after officials ordered an immediate evacuation of the Bayou Corne area because a slurry area appeared to be expanding.

    "The fear of the unknown prompted the evacuation order," said John Boudreaux, director of the parish's Office of Homeland Security and Emergency Preparedness. "The fear of it possibly compromising either the nearby pipelines or cavern storage areas, that could cause a risk to the community."

    Boudreaux said about 150 homes are affected by the order. He was unsure how long it would remain in effect. The governor's emergency proclamation extends through Sept. 2 unless terminated earlier.

    Boudreaux initially estimated the area was about 200 feet by 200 feet. He said it's on private land near the Texas Brine Co. LLC facility. Police Jury President Marty Triche said that in speaking with the Louisiana Department of Natural Resources and the Governor's Office, he was advised there was a risk that the slurry area could grow to a size of about 2,000 feet across.
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    Attention

    Man swallowed by massive sinkhole as Typhoon Saola pounds Taiwan, reporter nearly taken by second sinkhole minutes later

    Rheana Murray
    New York Daily News
    Thu, 02 Aug 2012 06:18 UTC
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    Emergency workers at the scene of the enormous sinkhole.
    There appears to have been no warning before the ground opened up beneath the man's feet. At least five people have died in the storm so far and two are missing.

    Unbelievable footage captures the moment a man was swallowed by a sinkhole that suddenly opened up on a Taiwan street.

    The unidentified man was reportedly walking in Taipei Wednesday morning when the road beneath him suddenly collapsed, pulling him to his death.

    CNN reports the incident occurred near the Temple of Sansha.

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    Attention

    Gigantic Sinkhole Opens Up In Brooklyn And Nearly Swallows Parked Car


    CBS News
    Wed, 01 Aug 2012 12:48 UTC
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    © @gazawia via TwitterBay Ridge, Brooklyn sinkhole: Does anyone out there still think the rate at which these things are appearing is 'normal'?
    A large sinkhole opened up Wednesday afternoon in Brooklyn, creating a close call for one family that had just parked their car in its vicinity.

    The 20-foot-deep by 20-foot-wide hole, which formed at around 6 p.m., is located between 4th and 5th avenues in Bay Ridge. Crews stabilized the situation Wednesday night, but they may be working to fill in the massive hole for days, officials said.

    Maddie Flood said she and her mother, Annette, had just parked their car shortly before it was partially swallowed by the hole, leaving it leaning "like the Titanic."

    "We're so blessed. If we were five minutes later or anything, we could have been in the hole," she told 1010 WINS' Aaron Gerberg.
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