Friday News + Bilk-Out or Buy-Out – you decide!

New DNR Inspection Report

The big earthquake ( near Japan ) news is here.

Seismic waves of deep M 8.3 temblor in Okhotsk Sea detected across US

Strange Sounds asks - Are the Deep 8.2-Mag Earthquake in Sakhalin Region and Chirinkotan Volcano Eruption in Kuril Islands Related?

Dutchsinse on North American Craton Plate (video)

2.5  quake Plumerville, Arkansas < MAP

The Assumption Parish blog has a link to the Sinkhole Depth Survey. 

Prompted by Jindal’s kick in their b-rains – Texas Brine comes up with some home buy out offers.

thanks to Guerrera Zorra for  re-write -

Texas Brine’s B.S. press release about the offers – it has a BIG LIE about being “family owned”.  Some “family”. Texas Brine operates as a subsidiary of the, $30B/year German giant conglomerate, Bayer AG.

Video & report from WAFB – Texas Brine to offer settlements to residents near giant Louisiana sinkhole

AP - Texas Brine offers settlements for sinkhole

No Wake Zone + Thursday News

Parish Blog - ‘No Wake Zone’ Declared in Assumption Waterways

 Note – the blog is revamped with  more navigation options.

The 7.4 South Seas earthquake in Tonga today may show up on  Bayou Corne helicorders.

DOTD: Enhanced monitoring along LA 70 near sinkhole – $1.7 million project to be reimbursed by Texas Brine

DOTD installs new equipment near sinkhole

Sinkhole lawsuits to get class-action status

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Texas Brine Shows Its True Colors

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

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. . . .

Buy-Outs In Mind – Monday News

WBRZ – Video – Parish still waiting for sinkhole payments

WWLTV – Video – Some [BP] oil spill cleanup workers say exposure to chemicals left them sick

He says he asked for protection — a respiratory mask, special gloves and boots. “And they told me I’d be fired or I’d be relieved of my duties because it would be bad media attention.”

DNR Inspection Report (5-20) – They are drilling into the cap rock (p. 2 at the end). They posted recent reports too.

Strange Sounds reports Meteor with Strange Sounds in Kentucky, Illinois, Arizona, Tennessee, Missouri, Mississippi – May 18 

..

A Plea for SB200 by Mike Schaff

To all:

After reading  Mr. David Mitchell’s article in The Advocate on May 9, it outrages me as it should ALL OF YOU to learn from the dome operators on the salt domes throughout the state that the guidelines previously existing for the distance to mine caverns from the edge of domes was determined by “rule of thumb”.

Even though this will later be changed to 300’ minimum, what else don’t we know about mining and storage regulations as they are now written?  Also, Even with the latest 3-D technology, as we were advised in our latest town hall meeting by the Texas Brine vice president himself, these surveys are only accurate to plus or minus 75 feet! When the failed cavern was mined originally, it was thought that there was 600 feet between the edgeof the salt and the cavern. This was discovered to be painfully incorrect and we are faced with its terrible consequences.

Is it just me or does anyone in our legislature think that it may be very wise and prudent to suspend any further mining and ESPECIALLY storage of hydrocarbons inside of the salt domes until this travesty regarding LDNR rules can be investigated further and strengthened to ensure this never happens again?

I’ve stated before to anyone who cared to listen that the rules for above ground storage consists of volumes of calculations, rules, verifications, testing, inspections, fabrication methods and techniques, qualification requirements for welding as well as for welders, material properties, material stresses, wind effect calculations, etc., etc., etc. These rules and regulations are located in the manuals of ASME Section VIII as well as in various API specifications. No fabrication shop can sell even the tiniest pressure vessel to these very same companies who use the multi-million gallon caverns for storage without following these specifications to the tee. AGL, Texas Brine, Dow Chemical, CrossTex, Chevron and all the rest expect and demand (as they well should) that we certify and insure these vessels to the appropriate specifications. Yet we in the state of Louisiana allow these very same companies to operate ONE HUNDRED MILLION GALLON highly pressurized vessels by “RULE OF THUMB”. For heaven’s sake, these caverns are larger than the combined volume of what the twin towers in New York once were.

Excuse my outrage.

I hope that each and every one of you share my incredulousness.

Please help us to straighten out this mess. Let’s get some scientific reassurance that what is stored beneath our communities will remain there as intended. Let’s not have another Grand Bayou, Louisiana incident as we had on Christmas Eve 2003. Let’s not have another Hutchinson, Kansas disaster which claimed several lives. Let us join together and tell lobbyist Marjorie McKeithen and her colleagues that enough is enough. When arguing for the defeat of Senator Mills’ SB200 she stated in front of the Senate Natural Resources Committee that there was never a failure of a storage cavern facility and that the Bayou Corne accident had nothing to do with “storage caverns”, just tell her THANK the Good Lord that it was NOT a storage cavern… but that right next door in Grand Bayou, it was a storage cavern that caused the evacuation and eventual relocation of the entire town. It was a storage cavern in Hutchinson Kansas where lives were lost. It was a storage cavern where exactly 20 years ago this week in Brenham, Texas where a police officer found the lifeless body of a blue-eyed, blonde-haired 5-year-old boy named Derrick Meinen and two of his neighbors after a storage cavern explosion there. The scene was that of a town ripped to shreds by a vicious tornado, but the truly disgusting aspect is that these loss of lives were caused by man’s lackadaisical attitude to safety and knowledge of the geological stresses and factors when utilizing this type of storage.

Read about the grief and devastation here on the Brenham Texas incident:
http://www.theeagle.com/blogs/fajitas_for_one/article_cab6128c-019b-11e2-8e7e-0019bb2963f4.html

And here on the Hutchinson, Kansas tragedy:
http://www.hutchnews.com/Todaystop/Sun–explosions-reflection–1

I’m angry… as you should be too. It’s time to call a moratorium on these storage caverns until these regulations can be strengthened so there is no doubt that the citizens of this state will be safe and our aquifers protected.

Vote FOR SB200 when it comes up for reconsideration. Vote FOR SB214 when it is introduced. It is your profound duty to the residents who depend on the Chicot Aquifer for their sole source of drinking water and the safety of all residents who live next to salt domes in our state.

Mike Schaff

Dumbfounded resident of Bayou Corne

Explosive TIMEBOMB in Assumption Parish

No wonder they try and hide their cavern inventories from the public! There is only a state directive to Crosstex to get rid of product near the expanding out-of-control salt dome collapse below Lake FUBAR. That means these figures from last Sept. on this map are pretty much the same as all oil and gas companies report ‘business as usual” in Assumption Parish.

As of Sept. 2012 there were OVER 120 MILLION BARRELS of LPG just in the map area . . . not counting the rest of Assumption Parish.

 DOW + KDS product shown on the map  =   120,793,163     

And checking just ONE of the natural gas caverns we see MORE than 15 MILLION BARRELS in one spot.

CHEVRON NATURAL GAS
Ser. #  972568      Well#  001       15,510,000  barrels nat’l gas  < Freedomrox says they emptied that cavern.  No natural gas left in it.

We didn’t bother doing all the math on the others on the map.

=============================================

The Math

= = =    DOW  = = =   tot.  114441908  BARRELS LPG
ser. #    Well#    LPG AMT.

972001     022    9290486
187182     017    3550759
181612     016    2372376
972247     009A    6711632
145921     009    6277622
145382     010    9266456
971766     003A    1620788
971487     003    1620788
971540     001    1538150
971541     002    1373980
122209    007    4142803
138107    008    4727557
973102    008A    4727557

= = =  KDS PROMIX      tot.  6351255  BARRELS LPG
971357    005    1660788
971356    004    1372759
971355    003    1866601
971358    006    1451107

===  DOW + KDS  tot.  =   120,793,163         = = = =

Displaced Residents Fed Up + Sunday News

Buyout delays have Bayou Corne residents outraged

BAYOU CORNE,LA (NBC33) — People living in Bayou Corne have had enough of waiting to be bought out. They say Texas Brine is wasting time and not giving any one an offer.

“Texas Brine playing a game of we’ll frustrate you. We will promise you things. We’ll disappoint you,” Nick Romero, Bayou Corne resident, described.

Texas Brine crews have appraised homes in the area, but so far no one has received a buyout offer. . . .

http://www.nbc33tv.com/news/your-stories/buyout-delays-have-bayou

Thanks to Freedomrox for this tip -

Lake Peigneur controversy seeks resolution

SB200 Lobby Squad:

A big vote Monday at the state senate to reconsider sb200. Let them know how you feel! Contact info is on the LEAN legislative preview page. It has a button link on the sidebar too.

Lots of seismic monitor activity.  LA14 going off full blast since midnight. Are they drilling, driving work trucks etc. at 3 and 4 a.m. there? Maybe a pump or machine doing the geo-phone installation. Cave-in and crumbling below usually looks more sporadic.

This weekly SONRIS report (well info from DNR) says (p. 4) a lot going on at Lake Verret and Gulf South is busy in Assumption Parish… and they are not putting in geo-phones.

New Madrid Fault Zone

• 2.1 quake Damascus, Arkansas < MAP  < ~30 mi. from   Arkansas One Nuclear Power Plant
• 1.5 quake Dell, Arkansas < MAP
• 1.9 quake Sale Creek, Tennessee < MAP  < next to 2 nuke plants,   Watts Bar & Sequoyah