Category Archives: oil & gas industry

More on the SB200 vote from Save Lake Peigneur

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Why SB200 Failed

Money talks and if it is not in my backyard,  who cares?  4,000 people in the area around Jefferson Island Storage & Hub.  Chicot Aquifer only water source for 15 parishes!

NAYS Senators

  • Alario Westwego        
  • Adley Benton          
  • Amedee Gonzales  
  • Buffington Keithville
  • Chabert, Houma      
  • Claitor Baton Rouge
  • Donahue, Mandeville         
  • Erdey Livingston     
  • Gallot  Ruston         
  • Heitmeier New Orleans      
  • Kostelka Monroe     
  • Martiny Metairie,     
  • Murray New Orleans          
  • Riser Columbia,      
  • Smith, G. Norco      
  • Smith J. Leesville    
  • Tarver Shreveport   
  • Walsworth West Monroe    
  • White E. Baton Rouge, Livingston, St. Helena Tangipahoa     

Total — 19     

Senators ABSENT 5/21/2013 but how they voted May 7 1st time SB200 was on floor.

  • Brown, Napoleonville Yea
  • Guillory, St. Martinville, there 5/21/2013 seen talking to lobbyists, absent May 7th
  • Long, Winnfield Nay

Senators that changed their vote 5/21 from Yea to Nay

Senator Jack Donahue   -  District 11
E-mail    -   donahuej ‘at’ legis.la.gov
Mandeville, LA 70448
(985) 727-7949

Senator Dale M. Erdey   -  District 13
E-mail   -   erdeyd ‘at’ legis.la.gov
Livingston, LA 70754
(225) 686-2881

Senator David Heitmeier   -  District 7
E-mail   -   HeitmeierD ‘at’ legis.la.gov
New Orleans, LA 70114
(504) 361-6356

One of the 20 AGL RESOURCES Lobbyists, MARJORIE A. MCKEITHEN, an attorney – was Secretary of the Louisiana Mineral and Energy Board and Assistant Secretary of the Louisiana Department of Natural Resources, Office of Mineral Resources, where she oversaw the granting and administering of mineral leases, storage agreements and alternative energy agreements on state-owned lands and water bottoms. Her father is W. Fox McKeithen
Her Firm: JONES WALKER, LLP Lobbyist for PERRYVILLE GAS STORAGE, LLC, ENTERPRISE PRODUCTS PARTNERS, L.P., ARCADIA GAS STORAGE

Texas Brine Shows Its True Colors

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Bayou Journal
Texas Brine Shows Its True Colors
By: Lonny Cavalier, Contributing Writer

It’s akin to hearing sirens and wondering if your kids are involved in some accident, or if you’re in a boat and a storm rolls in and you wonder if you have enough fuel to take you safely to shore.
Get the point?
It is like someone kicking you in the stomach, the worst feeling ever.
That is what Texas Brine and its execs have done to the people of Bayou Corne and Grand Bayou for a year now.
They have kicked you in the gut, sliced you in the back, poured salt in the wound, then spit at you when they kick you for one final time.
That is what you feel if you are in some way connected to this event, and Texas Brine continues its mining operations, raking in millions, lying to the victim’s, not even with a straight face, and how can you forget when Mark Cartwright smirked at 74 year old Norm Schewe’s statement, “That we just don’t trust you”.
A few pointers to remind them:

*Go back to late 2010 when this event started with P & A of Texas Brine’s well. If the revelation would have been made then rather than in August of 2012, we may well not be in this situation today.
*Then, remember the stagnant response of Texas Brine following the sinkhole development. If you take their word, an “earthquake”, caused this.
*Then the issue of N.O.R.M. being injected into the cavern. Texas Brine said they did. They suddenly reversed themselves when they figured out it was illegal to do so during the relevant period. While always denying about injecting, suddenly numerous permit requests were discovered from Texas Brine to Office of Conservation to inject the material into various wells, but yet the company refuses to acknowledge that it ever did. So the evidence speaks volumes to the contrary.
*Texas Brine consistently violated Office of Conservation orders to do what was needed to make the region safer, ie. vent wells, monitors, etc.
*Only after being told that they were in violation of their permit did Texas Brine agree to pay support funds to resident’s, then moved to discontinue payments to camp owners.
*Then there came the revelation that Texas Brine was selling for profit crude oil harvested from the sinkhole.
*The 3-D imaging results if you listen to Texas Brine, leads one to believe that everything is ok.
*The dagger through the heart, Texas Brine looks the Governor in the face and says, “We will move towards buyouts in a swift manner, and we expect offers to go out within 45 days.”

To date, some 55 days later Texas Brine has not extended a single offer to a single homeowner.
What a disgrace!
But don’t worry resident, it’s getting better.
More gas under your homes, more bubble sites, a severe uptick in seismic events, an ever expanding sinkhole, promised buyouts that now seem to be an afterthought. If not for those things, all would be great living in Bayou Corne.
What is disgusting is that this company has consistently looked the public in the eye and told lie after lie, after lie.
While totally disabling a community, Texas Brine continues to produce product by mining Oxy Geismar No. 2, creating revenue for this company.
Meanwhile, Texas Brine has failed the community that has supported them over the last 30+ years. Texas Brine is not making good on its financial obligations to the parish, the state and the many creditors owed for this ongoing event, as well as residents.
The State of Louisiana should immediately file litigation to seize any asset’s derived from the Texas Brine Corporation’s activities, have the funds placed in escrow and preserved for recovery financing. There is legal precedent for such action and should be filed immediately.
In the meantime, the executives charged with the task of running this company, those same executives who have misled everyone that they have dealt with throughout this event, should immediately step aside in lieu of leadership that will be responsible to the needs of the affected resident’s.
The state should also move to revoke all operating authority Texas Brine has, until they install responsible officers who will run this company in a prudent manner and take the good with the bad.

Enough is enough!

Wed. News, Legal Round-Up

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A new Situation Summary is out (5-21) They are back to CODE 1 at Lake FUBAR (p.33) What does p. 41 mean? “Continue clearing area for site #2“   Is DOTD rent-a-road-crew for Texas Brine at taxpayer expense??

Louisiana Senate committee approves sinkhole bills – House Bills 493 and 494

KADN – SB200 denied at the mercy of Lake Peigneur residents; AGL Resources in favor

LAFAYETTE, LA (KADN) — The residents of Lake Peigneur are fired up as ever after the bill, SB200, to stop the permitting process of AGL Resources in Lake Peignuer was denied by a mere two votes last night.  AGL Resources began their quest to create additional caverns in Lake Peigneur eight years ago, and with recent unexplained bubbling happening in the lake, citizens are concerned. . . .

Water crisis: Louisiana – Lake Peigneur bill defeated

Press Release by Save Lake Peigneur on the vote -

Friends:

Senator Mills SB200 was reconsidered today. With a few hours notice we gathered 10 residents and Kathy Wascom, our lobbyist from LEAN to support our bill.

AGL had an estimated 20 lobbyists of extremely well-paid lobbyists.

Although we lost by a mere 2 votes, ordinary citizens battled against the extremely experienced lobbyists. In that sense we did not lose.

As always, Senator Mills was outstanding, in fact I was pleased to hear one of the lobbyists complain that his persistence and commitment was annoying.

We continue to applaud his integrity. We are also very grateful to the support we received from the 17 senators who supported SB200, including Senator Perry and Senator Cortez. Senator Guillory from St. Martinville remained absent although the parish government and law enforcement officials were staunch in their support of SB200.

The purpose of the bill was to stop the permitting process for at least 5 years to give time to truly study the numerous issues of concern; bubbling in the lake, contamination of the Chicot Aquifer, property devaluation and geological anomalies.

The state’s policies failed the residents of Bayou Corne. After nine months there is no resolution. SB200 would have assured clear unbiased solution. The 19 senators who voted against SB200 have gambled with the lives of 4000 Lake Peigneur residents as well as the drinking water for numerous parishes from the Chicot Aquifer.

Eight years have passed since AGL Resources began their quest to create
additional caverns in Lake Peigneur. The Bayou Corne disaster and today’s loss has made us more determined to protect our homes and environment.

Nara Crowley
Board of Directors
Save Lake Peigneur, Inc.

Judge greenlights class-action status for [4] sinkhole lawsuits

“U.S. District Judge Jay C. Zainey also will give Texas Brine Co. 30 more days to directly negotiate stalled out-of-court settlements with evacuated residents lacking legal representation.”

House near sinkhole burns after lightning strike  – lucky it didn’t set something off!

Lake Peigneur bill defeated in Senate

1.7 quake in Spring City, Tennessee < MAP  <<< Look how CLOSE it is to Watts Bar nuke plant

WAFB – Court approves sinkhole class-action suit

“Texas Brine had committed to issuing settlement offers within 45 days of property inspections. As of May 20, 66 inspected properties had reached the 45-day window. On May 24, 85 properties will be on the 45th day since inspection and 87 properties will be on the 45th day since inspection on May 31.”

Mississippi – Oyster leaseholders lose suit blaming oil spill berms for damage
Oyster growers on both sides of the Mississippi River who sued the state, dredge operators and BP claiming damages to their oyster leases in 2010 during the construction of berms designed to capture oil during the BP Deepwater Horizon oil spill had their lawsuit thrown out in two different federal courts on Monday. . . .

thanksreaders

Green Light for Class Action Suit

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Federal class-action lawsuit approved for Bayou Corne sinkhole

WWLTV -   NEW ORLEANS — A federal court has approved a class-action lawsuit in the Bayou Corne sinkhole case, according to Scott Bickford, a New Orleans attorney.

For months, the sinkhole in Assumption Parish has plaqued nearby residents, forcing approximately 350 people to evacuate their homes. The 15-acre sinkhole is believed to be caused from a salt cavern mined by Texas Brine that collapsed. 

According to an Associated Press report, in early May, Gov. Bobby Jindal ordered a review of permits issued to Texas Brine, with Jindal announcing that the company has been slow to respond to residents seeking buyouts or other settlements.

Thanks to Guerrera Zorra for tip - ;)

UPDATE May, 22

Attorney in the first sentence, Scott Bickford, is part of Martzell & Bickford law firm listed on the sidebar under ‘Lawyer Up’ section. Their website says:

UPDATE: Bayou Corne Sinkhole

For more information about the current settlement or about the Bayou Corne Sinkhole litigation, contact one of our attorneys at the Law Office of Martzell and Bickford: (504) 581-9065.

And it has more news about their Bayou Corne salt dome mess litigation.

• Ernin Brockovich has a good interview about Bayou Corne. Her web page about Lake FUBAR.

Save Lake Peigneur Letter

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Letter to the Editor:

SB200   Senator Fred H. Mills, Jr.    Failed 17 yeas and 19 nays     
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SALT DOMES:  Prohibits the issuance of certain permits to create or convert a solution mined cavern for storage purposes.

SB200 had been amended.  SB200 was to provide for the  prohibition of certain permits on state owned water bottoms; to provide terms,  conditions, and requirements; and to provide for related matters.

The amended SB200 would have been just for 5 years until more research is done on the safety of natural gas salt dome storage caverns.

AGL Resources, Jefferson Island Storage & Hub, LLC, will not do an Environmental Impact Statement nor will they give the Seismic Study that was done to Save Lake Peigneur.

Jefferson Island Storage & Hub, LLC employs 10 people and will hire one more after the expansion.

Senator Adley came before the senate microphone and stood before Senator Mills, and told Sen. Mills that he was playing games.  Adley again and again brought up the disaster at Lake Peigneur in 1980, as if that disaster was nothing.  Senator Adley told Senator Mills that he appreciated his problems. I wonder if Senator Adley appreciates what has happened to the people that live in Assumption parish.

Sen. Adley voted against SB200 on May 7 and 21.  He ran a company that managed natural gas.    In and Advocate article Sen. Adley stated that “I reached out to lobbyist friends I’ve known for years and said people need to be reasonable”.  Senator Adley must have reached out to a lot of his lobbyist friends, as there were 20 lobbyists there for AGL Resources. Someone said the senate floor looked like an oil and gas convention.

Do lobbyists run our state? Why didn’t the DNR protect the people in Assumption parish?  Why don’t most of the senators protect or care about the people that live around natural gas storage caverns?

To the Senators who voted and did the right thing thank you so much for caring about people’s lives.  Save Lake Peigneur does not have lobbyists or money.  The people that live in that area are hardworking people and so many work in the oil and gas industry but they are trying to protect their lives.

SB200 – - A Press Release from Save Lake Peigneur

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From Save Lake Peigneur -

Please contact Senators  immediately & ask them to support SB200 even if you do not live in this area.  The Chicot aquifer affects 15 parishes. Please help and forward.  This is urgent.

Do not let  Senator Adley,  who voted against SB200, as he stated in the Advocate to reach out “to lobbyist friends I’ve known for years”.  Tell these Senators not to let lobbyists sway their vote.

http://senate.la.gov/Senators/

PRESS RELEASE:

The Board of Directors of Save Lake Peigneur, Inc. has determined that a one-year moratorium and “cooling-off period”  (D.Bourne-AGL-The Advocate 06-50-2013) is not in the best interest of the residents surrounding Lake Peigneur or the citizens of numerous parishes who use the Chicot Aquifer as drinking water.

We support Senator Mills SB200 as written.

We have numerous major issues to address, the bubbling-foaming, the Chicot Aquifer, property devaluation and geological anomalies of the Jefferson Island Salt Dome. The Bayou Corne residents have had contaminated drinking water and have been displaced for 9 months and are still waiting for buy-out details.

While we were open to a compromise, in reading the fine print of AGL’s offer we were disappointed to see it was designed to tie the hands of the community. If AGL truly wanted to be a good neighbor as it contends to be, they would welcome a federal standard Environmental Impact Statement, a 3D seismic of the entire salt dome excluding oil explorations data, and a clear determination and resolution of the bubbling/foaming in Lake Peigneur.

Bayou Corne’s disaster is a result of failed regulations of the State of Louisiana. We will never feel safe until all our questions are answered.

Nara Crowley, President
Board of Directors
Save Lake Peigneur, Inc.

Dire Warning for Louisiana! Gulf of Mexico Collapse Scenario.

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Massive Explosive Potential in Louisiana and Gulf of Mexico. Doomsday?

By Freedomrox

[snip] . . . The Oil layer nearby known as “Big Hum” cannot account for all of the methane pressures Bayou Corne is expressing. If the drilling keeps up next to the Eastern walls by the Australian Drilling Operations….then a total collapse of the Eastern wall is a very high probability. Pressurized Methane Gas is the precursor of liquid oil migrating through the Yellow Seep Zone. I personally see no way to stem or stop this. This is an environmental disaster that will in one way or the other impact and empty all of the surrounding areas in the years to come. Most of the Gulf is in extreme danger!
http://www.searchanddiscovery.com/documents/hood/images/hood

The mouth of the Gulf of Mexico is collapsing at the gullet of the Mississippi River. When you take out heavy fluids from cracks, fissures, and reservoirs, and do not replace something of equal density, then logic tells you it will fail. This has been the oil industry’s dirtiest secret, and one you have been lied to about since you were a child. The oil industry would have you believe that you can get something for nothing, and never have to put anything back. . .

article -

http://12160.info/profiles/blogs/original-content-massive-explosive-potential-in-louisana-and

[emphasis ours]

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PART 2

[snip] “. . . .what is not listed here is Texas Brine’s expertise as the provider of the major component for hydraulic fracturing fluids, nor it’s expertise in storing ‘Fracking’ fluids within these caverns, nor does it list expertise in determining whether there are pre-existing hydrocarbons underneath the cavities they create. This is what the authorities claim is the case at the Napoleonville facility. Natural gas and oil just so happened to be BESIDE the Salt Diapir, and tapped into by coincedence when a known salt cavern was not within the Salt, and laying upon Shale, next to several abandoned Oil Wells, especially the Hooker Oil Well # 1. Watch them pin it all on this one. “

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