Bayou Corne SaltDome Collapse- 2/19/13 Meeting Baton Rouge

Ok, I'll hear from you in four hours.

Four hours of cell phone video can you give some info for those of us who don't have that much time?

TEXAS BRINE invites comments.

Please take a moment to email Texas Brine Corporation with your thoughts on this situation.

"Bruce Mathews, Vice President of Operation for Texas-Brine testified that the company will not start buying homes in the affected area because it’s just not the right time. “I know there are residents of Bayou Corne that want to be bought out,” says Mathews. “But I know there is a group that does not want to be bought out because there’s one’s who want to stay and because it’s the right thing to do. We have to focus on response activities.”

[link to www.texasbrine.com]

Texas Brine:
The Company
Texas Brine Company, LLC is the largest independent brine producer in the United States, supplying over 30 percent of the brine requirements of the chlor-alkali industry.
(from above link, clicking on The Company at left)

Seems to me they are big enough and have the financial ability to buy these people out now

In other research it has been shown the land where the Salt Domes are located is actually owned by Occidental Petroleum, according to maps that mark the land as such. I can't find any links to backup that right now.
However, here's a fact:

332% Increase
Oxy has increased its dividend every year for 10 consecutive years, and a total of 11 times during that period. The total increase in the annual dividend rate
from 2002 is 332 percent. Oxy returned $1.4 billion to stockholders in the form of dividends in 2011.

[link to www.oxy.com]

I'll see what I can do.

Yes, that's a long time.
I'll give it a try.

Up to tape 3 and lots of apologies, recognitions and heartfelt letters from residents.
At tape 3 Department of Homeland Security Speaks.
Folllowing is my attempt to paraphrase. Old news, except that DHS was called in early.
Interesting in that they had been called in much earlier than August 3rd.
DHS received a call May 30th of natural gas leak in Bayou Corne, near 3 pipelines. Suspected to be those lines leaking. Engaged companies to detect leak. After 2 weeks determined not pipelines leaking but gas coming up from below there.
June 8th seismic activity reported to DHS Bayou Corne.
Continued to try to find source of Natural Gas coming up.
August 3rd sinkhole appears and also odor.
August 4th went out on airboat and got a depth reading of 385 feet deep.
Investigation shifted to sink hole and away from natural gas bubbling.
In September determined a “Failed Cavern”.
END.
I continue to listen.

So when will the Corn hole blow up?

Up to Tape 9 and still listening.
I'll try to summarize soon.
There is real concern.

Finally - Owned by OXY Chem and leased by Texas Brine.
Per Texas Brine Official, tape 9.

Thanks OP! I was considering moving back to south Louisiana but in light of all this maybe I won't.

Some of the nicest people in the world live in south LA, this is so, so sad.

Well, it's too much for me. My take on this after listening:

I do get the general idea that this is far from over and very high in potential for danger.

Dozens upon dozens of Stae and Federal agencies, private contractors, etc, WORLDWIDE assistance and no one can get this under control. Seemingly, not enough expertise as this has never happened before. Something about having trouble bringing people in due to liability.

The Salt dome Cavern has collapsed at a side wall, not the roof and this is UNPRECEDENTED in history and they do not know what they are dealing with or how to fix it. Maybe it can't be fixed. Collapse of Salt Dome has caused sink hole.

They do not know the extent of the VOIDS beneath the area and they do not know what will happen if the cavern actually "fills in". ? Cavern is growing at BOTTOM, getting deeper.?

The Burps are from gas bubbles coming up and displacing debris, but then another void opens (if I'm getting this right). Good that the sand and gravel is breaking the gas bubble into small bubbles (like in an aquarium) because if a large bubble comes to the surface and flares, that is disaster. Concerns of accumulations of natural gas and explosion. Thus all the Venting. More and more venting.

Gas has vertically entered the aquifer. Volume of gas in MRAA will be announced next week and expected to be HIGH.

The Western side of the Dome is of extreme concern.
All kinds of monitoring and testing going on
According to Texas Brine "This is one of the most studied areas of the US."
Seismic monitoring going on and volumes of data being generated here.
END

Basically, it's everything we have surmised over the months here at GLP and worse.

[link to www.dailycomet.com]
THis article also trys to summarize the meeting.
snip


Before the evacuation order is lifted, John Boudreaux, Assumption Parish director of emergency operations, has said scientists must determine if the salt dome and other caverns within are stable, where gas has accumulated underground and if there is potential for another hole to open.

The cavern is about 80 percent full of displaced earth, officials said Tuesday. Considering the volume of the cavern, scientists said the hole itself will not grow enough to threaten residents more than 1,000 feet away.

There is the possibility of other voids below ground that could lead to another sinkhole, scientists said.

To answer these questions, contractors are creating a three-dimensional image to 7,000 feet below the surface.

A 2.8-square-mile zone has been charted above the dome's western flank.

That zone will be dotted with an array of 2,500 strategically placed shots and about 2,200 geophones.

The shots are typically small explosives buried 25 to 40 feet below the surface. Contractors are also using vibrosis trucks that shake the ground in 10-second intervals.

These shots will be recorded by the geophones, which are small microphones stuck in the ground.

“Sound travels at different speeds through different types of underground materials,” said Texas Brine spokesman Sonny Cranch.

That sound will eventually bounce back to the surface to be read by the geophones.

Scientists say they can map out any remaining underground voids, check the condition of the dome and determine where natural gas may be accumulating with the images created from the process.

“Using this many sensors close together, we are going to get some really high-resolution images,” said Hoyt O'Neal, crew supervisor for Boone Exploration, the contractor installing the equipment.

This imaging process is common in oil exploration, but not at this resolution. O'Neal said enough sensors are being used to map out a 23- square-mile area if this was an oil exploration job.

Cranch said the images should be created and processed by April

AND IT WILL BE WORSE BY THEN



THE DATA WILL BE ANTIQUATED



DELIBERATE DELAY
NO MORE EVACUATIONS
MISTAKE


PREPARE FOR DOOM AND DEATH
DATES...........2.24
3.5
3.14
AND MY PERSONAL FAVORITE 3.23
THEN 4.4

OP thanks a lot.

You're quite welcome. It's depressing.

why 3.23? Why is that your favorite?

"Bruce Mathews, Vice President of Operation for Texas-Brine testified that the company will not start buying homes in the affected area because it’s just not the right time. “I know there are residents of Bayou Corne that want to be bought out,” says Mathews. “But I know there is a group that does not want to be bought out because there’s one’s who want to stay and because it’s the right thing to do. We have to focus on response activities.”


What kind of disjointed logic is this. Some people want to stay so we will not buy out the people who want to leave.

This butthead should have to move his family into the area so he has a real feel of the concern of the people affected.

His seeming logic makes him an excellent candidate to be a U.S. Senator or a Supreme Court Justice.

Money Rules

.
... did I miss it? ...
.
... is the governor involved? ... on alert? ...
.

^^THIS^^

Logic is even more disjointed when we realize they don't know what they are doing nor do they know the outcome nor will they ever know when the land and situation can be pronounced safe. Texas Brine has to focus on response äctivities" which are basically a S l o w march to massive disaster.
This company has the resources to both focus on activities and buy out these land owners as Texas Brine and Occidental Petroleum are fincially sound beyond all belief.

[link to enenews.com]
Ar 5:30 in

Gary Hecox, a geologist with CB&I: The gas currently covers over 2 square miles, the extent is not well defined […] The gas across here is between 2 and 10 feet thick […] around 50-60 psi pressure […] it is enough to have large volumes come to the surface very rapidly if it’s uncontrolled. It’s enough to do very serious damage to anything on the surface if it’s not controlled. [...]

In the last month we’ve identified 20 new bubble sites on the western side of the sinkhole. We believe this is related not to necessarily more gas coming up, but we can’t exclude that as a possible contributing factor […]

We’ve estimated the volume of gas in the MRAA as 50 million cubic feet in place. The picture says 200 million, that was a typo on my part. […] We’ll have an updated estimate probably by the end of next week […] and it’s probably going to be substantially bigger than the 50 million.

SKULL AND BONES NUMBER!!!!!

[link to enenews.com]

Expert: Substantially more than 50,000,000 cubic feet of gas below surface near giant sinkhole? Covers over 2 square miles — Enough to do ‘very serious damage’

Wonderful. One of the dates lands on my 39th birthday.

>> “Using this many sensors close together, we are going
>> to get some really high-resolution images,” said Hoyt
>> O'Neal, crew supervisor for Boone Exploration, the
>> contractor installing the equipment.

>> This imaging process is common in oil exploration, but
>> not at this resolution. O'Neal said enough sensors are
>> being used to map out a 23- square-mile area if this was
>> an oil exploration job.

One of the "Lessons Learned" at the post-mortem of this operations should be "Don't be so damn cheap with the preliminary sensing on all future sites involving areas w/ salt domes, fault lines, karst geology, etc." If they'd commit to doing a full series of the very high-res surveys before they ever put the first drill bit into ANY new site, (or any existing ones that have the potential to be even slightly iffy) then they'd (mostly) know what they were dealing with before they ever decided on a plan of action.

Sure, it'll cost more up front, but I daresay it will be only a tiny fraction of the cost they're going to have to absorb from this catastrophe. That level of remote sensing/mapping should just be part of the cost of doing business, from now on. Oh, and any drilling plans must get a thorough, independent review from master geologists before drilling/fracking/whatever permits are granted.

Yeah, they'll whine & cry about the damn environmental review process hurting business - they always do. The oil & gas industry makes buttloads, and I'm damn tired of it always being at everyone else's (and their aquifer's) expense. I'd rather see their bottom line take a small (in the greater scheme of things) hit than see the kind of disaster we're seeing now. The cost-benefit ratio speaks for itself - and quite loudly at that.

Excellent point.

They always have the best old-timey hunting lodges.