Folks. don't lose sight of the fact that the
sinkhole-and-cavern problem is only a small part
of this whole thing.

the fundamental problem with the "cavern" is that
Texas Brine did not conform to established engineering standards
when they were harvesting the brine from the cavern: they
washed away too much of the salt structure from the sides
of the cavern and thereby weakened the cavern structure
to the point of causing collapse (which in turn puts
the entire Napoleanville Salt Dome complex in jeopardy)

the MOST HUGE part of the problem is that coincidentally with this
salt dome fiasco, a deep reservoir of natural gas has decided
to seep its way to the surface -- and it is this natural
gas which coincidentally filled the Texas Brine "cavern".

But! more importantly, all of this natural gas, which
is leaking up from a reservoir deep in the earth's crust,
is ALSO saturating all of the ground in southern louisiana --
and it is this "natural gas problem" that is the catastrophic component of the whole situation.