MORE here later . . .
Tag Archives: Texas Brine
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!
Breaking News – Jindal Comes Out of Stupor
WDSU -
Jindal orders review of all Texas Brine permits
Gov. cites company’s ‘inability to meet’ commitments
“It has become clear that Texas Brine is trying to run out the clock on the citizens of Bayou Corne and Grand Bayou by hiding behind insurance companies, lawyers and lobbyists,” Jindal said in a statement released Monday afternoon. “That is unacceptable. Texas Brine is responsible for the sinkhole, and they need to clean up the mess they’ve made and do right by the people of Bayou Corne and Grand Bayou by issuing long overdue settlement offers.”
PART 1
LINK - http://youtu.be/7RR7v7667Eo
PART 2
LINK - http://youtu.be/dTnLPRDXe0A
Thanks, Walter, for this tip - 
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 
..
Insurance Co. / Buy-Out Bombshell . . . Jindal to Address Issue Momentarily
WBRZ - Insurance company blamed for sinkhole buyout holdup
by Russell Jones
BATON ROUGE – The company which owns land a massive sinkhole appeared on blamed their insurance carrier today for the holdup in buyouts for nearby property.
Texas Brine, LLC released a statement which said their carrier hasn’t approved any money for buyouts just yet, and they’re working with the insurance company to get that money as soon as they can.
Around 100 residents living near the sinkhole in Assumption Parish signed up to have their properties bought out. Officials said Texas Brine is nearly three weeks overdue to make offers for their land.
Estimates put the damage and related costs from the sinkhole at $40 million, which the state says Texas Brine is liable for.
Gov. Bobby Jindal scheduled a press conference this afternoon to address issues with the sinkhole response. News 2 crews are there and will have updates tonight.
Governor to discuss sinkhole response efforts
BAYOU CORNE – Buyouts and outstanding costs for dealing with a sinkhole in Assumption Parish could be on Governor Bobby Jindal’s agenda for a press conference scheduled for this afternoon.
The governor scheduled the event for 1:20 p.m. at the Bayou Corne Sportman’s Landing on Hwy 70 South. . . .
TEXAS BRINE’S IDIOTIC LETTER TO RESIDENTS
The Advocate – Texas Brine says insurers holding up settlement offers
N.O. Times-Picayune – Buyouts for Assumption Parish sinkhole residents held up; Gov. Bobby Jindal orders review of company’s permits
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
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
Arkansas One Nuclear Power PlantSave The Water Articles on Lake Peigneur and Bayou Corne
Water crisis news – USA – New Orleans – Lake Peigneur – Citizen group sues to hold LDNR accountable – Video – Sheriff Ackal says Lake Peigneur could be worse than Assumption sinkhole.
http://savethewater.org/2013/04/water-crisis-news-usa-new-orleans-lake-peigneur-citizen-group-sues-to-hold-ldnr-accountable-sheriff-ackal-says-lake-peigneur-could-be-worse-than-assumption-sinkhole/
Water Crisis – Largest man-made vortex – Lake Peigneur update – Special report – history – facts – video – Lake Peigneur gets snubbed by Senate – Acadiana residents fear potential sinkhole ‘disaster’.
http://savethewater.org/2013/05/lake-peigneur-update-special-water-education-report-largest-man-made-vortex-history-facts-videos-lake-peigneur-gets-snubbed-by-senate-acadiana-residents-fear-potential-sinkhole/
USA water crisis: Louisiana – Bayou Corne – Grand Bayou sinkhole begins – can it end – will Lake Peigneur repeat history? – Special water education edition part 1 of 3 – timeline – history – videos.
http://savethewater.org/2013/05/usa-water-crisis-louisiana-bayou-corne-grand-bayou-sinkhole-begins-can-it-end-will-lake-pigneur-repeat-history-special-water-education-edition-part-1-of-3-timeline-history-videos/
USA: Bayou Corne and Grand Bayou sinkhole history
Related, with great pictures [from 2005] - Lake Peigneur: The Swirling Vortex of Doom, New Iberia, Louisiana
NOTE: Save the Water is added to the sidebar in ‘Other’ topic.
