Officials: Work by giant sinkhole suspended — “Increase in underground fluid movement” — Odor from hydrocarbons being released
Published: February 26th, 2013 at 3:17 pm ET
By ENENews

Assumption Parish Police Jury, 1:15p ET: The Office of Conservation is advising Assumption Parish officials and the public in the Bayou Corne area that CB&I and Itasca Group analysis of ongoing seismic monitoring has detected what appears to be an uptick in underground fluid movement below the sinkhole in the vicinity of the failed Oxy 3 cavern in the past 24 hours. As has been noted in earlier similar events, the fluid movement appears to be linked to observations of trees falling into the sinkhole, release of trapped debris from the sinkhole bottom and increased odor from hydrocarbons released to surface. CB&I and Itasca Group analysts have advised that, while the activity appears to represent no additional significant threat to the general area, operations directly on the sinkhole be suspended until subsurface activity slows again.

The Advocate: Sinkhole work suspended after underground tremors detected [...] Response operations on an 8.6-acre sinkhole in Assumption Parish were halted Tuesday after seismic monitors noted an increase in the kind of underground tremors linked with past burps and edge collapses in the yawning slurry hole, state regulators said. [...] Over the past 24 hours, seismic monitors have been picking up an increase in underground fluid movement near the failed Texas Brine Co. LLC cavern, officials said. [...]