Environment & Energy
Related: About this forumBayou Corne Update: Gas Trapped Near Sinkhole
By David J. Mitchell
River Parishes bureau
October 08, 2012
An as-yet undetermined amount of natural gas is trapped in the aquifer underneath the Bayou Corne community, state and parish officials have said. The area has been rattled by earth tremors, has waterways with gas bubbling to the surface, and is in the vicinity of a 4-acre sinkhole south of La. 70 that has grown larger since its emergence Aug. 3. Bayou Cornes 150 households have been evacuated since the sinkhole appeared just off the edge of the Napoleonville Dome, a 1-mile-by-3-mile underground salt deposit.
The Mississippi River Alluvial Aquifer is a broad underground belt that tracks the river and flows beneath dozens of Louisiana parishes, but is not a continuously linked formation of ground water. The aquifer under Assumption Parish is not used as its major water source Bayou Lafourche is but some parish officials say they are concerned the odorless, colorless gas underground could accumulate unseen to explosive concentrations if left unchecked.
John Boudreaux, director of the Assumption Parish Office of Homeland Security and Emergency Preparedness, said there are concerns the gas can build up pressure under the clay layer that lies above the aquifer. Once the pressure in the aquifer reaches a pressure greater than 75 to 85 pounds per square inch, the clay layer might not be able to hold back the accumulated gas, according to Boudreaux and geologists.
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The sinkhole grew another 400 square feet this week. The number of gas bubbling sites continues to mount and appear further from the sinkhole. There are now 14 such sites, the latest "within miles" of the sinkhole.
Gas pressure was so great at the sinkhole this week, it caused the drillers to halt work on their well. The pressure prevented them from setting the well. The radiation level at the sinkhole is 15 times over the state's acceptable limit, according to state officials in a small newspaper article, revealed by environmental attorney Stuart Smith.
DNR had quietly issued a permit for radioactive waste to be injected into the Texas Brine cavern in the salt dome. The government cover up also includes DNR neglecting to publicly disclose that a structural problem with the cavern has existed since early 2011. Both of these issues have prompted legal action by residents.
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- The issue that has been barely mentioned (albeit very quietly) -- is the fact that Texas Brine has injected radioactive waste into this salt dome.
What kind of radioactive waste? They haven't said.
How much radioactive waste? They haven't said.
My advice for anyone living within the Mississippi River Alluvial Aquifer -- LEAVE. NOW.
DollarBillHines
(1,922 posts)and the resulting explosion releases radioactive particulate...
A little south of Baton Rouge and west of NOLA.
DeSwiss
(27,137 posts)What's even more disturbing is that the state environment agency gave this company a permit to inject radioactive waste into the salt cavern and nobody living over it or near it apparently knew about it.
bongbong
(5,436 posts)Thanks, raygun and the rest of the repigs!
AtheistCrusader
(33,982 posts)You know, the entity that is supposed to give more than a passing thought to the health and safety of the citizens impacted?
How in the hell did something like this get approved? Is this the old pre-deepwater horizon MMS, or something else?
Nihil
(13,508 posts)> The issue that has been barely mentioned (albeit very quietly) -- is the fact that Texas Brine has
> injected radioactive waste into this salt dome.
Some of the links start to give hints as to why this is being kept very quiet by the usual suspects:
>> "Although the concentration of NORM (Naturally Occurring Radioactive Material) in most natural
>> substances is low, higher concentrations may arise as a result of human activities. For example,
>> radium may be precipitated out in scale that forms in a natural gas processing pipe or radon
>> decay products may concentrate on the turbine blades of a natural gas pump. Enhancement of
>> natural radioactivity has been found in:
>> Petroleum and natural gas production
>> Mineral extraction and processing
>> Metal recycling
>> Forest products and thermal - electric production
>> Water treatment facilities
>> Tunneling and underground workings
>>
>> "Additionally, technologically enhanced levels of NORM or (TERM or TENORM) often build up
>> in oilfield equipment used to collect and dispose produced water. Equipment such as downhole
>> tubing, surface piping, separator tanks, etc. are often found to have elevated levels of radioactive
>> scales built up which can be a hazard whenever these fixtures are removed or disassembled
>> for maintenance."
Wonderful.
Not only does coal-burning produce more radioactive pollution than nuclear power, now we
have natural gas extraction (that oh-so-popular "clean" fuel) and oil production both producing
radioactive waste. The primary difference between the industries is that whilst the waste from
nuclear power stations is stored (and moaned about), that from coal is distributed to the air
and surrounding ground whilst that from natural gas & oil is quietly pumped into the ground.
No wonder that people want to keep this quiet ... if a fraction of the "concern", protest & activity
that is currently aimed at the nuclear industry starts to be pointed at the fossil fuel industries
then there might actually be some changes made.
There again, maybe that's not to the liking of the current "activists" as they'd also have to
face up to their own fossil fuel usage and the problems arising from trying to make as sudden
a change from that as say Japan & Germany have tried from nuclear (thus increasing their
fossil fuel consumption).
Nah, all that would happen is that people would change channels and carry on with their own
profitable Business As Usual as problems like this only ever affect "other people".
RobertEarl
(13,685 posts)The DWH drilling op that went bad has allowed seawater to enter the underground oil reservoir they were tapping.
That oil reservoir is believed to stretch all the way up under Louisiana. Deep down where the drill bit entered at @ a mile deep the pressure of the water is incredible. Before the tap there was a rock barrier between the water and the oil. That barrier has now been pierced and is an open connection.
Theory has it that water is going into that reservoir with just a little oil escaping. IOW, water, under great pressure is displacing the oil and making it rise since oil floats on water.
Bayou Corme is on the top of that reservoir where the oil is being pushed up, resulting in the situation we see developing via the sinkhole.
Pretty wild, eh?
Nihil
(13,508 posts)... have the people who proposed that "theory" yet suggested that the
radioactivity that they're monitoring from the sink-hole is connected to
the "lost corium" over in Japan?
Maybe it has also managed to migrate through equally fantastical pathways
to provide the final stage of the apparent technological curse on that part
of Lousiana?
> Pretty wild, eh?
As long as it's taken in good part as a joke then yeah, pretty wild!
RobertEarl
(13,685 posts)That's just crazy-talk, Nihil.
Actually there is an established connection from the oil field in the gulf to the oil fields in Louisiana. So your attempt to bring Fukushima into this just to protect the nuclear industry is nutzoid, but has come to be expected from pro-nuksters, sad to say.
For everyone else: The theory about the floating oil being forced up in Louisiana, is similar to the idea behind fracking. In fracking they place fluids under the oil and gas which forces the oil and gas to rise to the surface.
It could be said that what we have done is fracked the Gulf of Mexico. One hell of a large scale frack, eh?
Nihil
(13,508 posts)Your previous post was "crazy talk" too but I thought it was light-hearted
so went along with it (rather than just noting that you'd swallowed another
load of fact-free bollocks like you do every other day on any topic that
includes the dreaded "N" word).
"Just to protect the nuclear industry"? Really??
Try reading rather than just writing.
An atlas might help too - one with a scale on it.
RobertEarl
(13,685 posts)I sure didn't come in here just to piss you off and make you say crazy shit all the time. What can I do to help you stop? ...Robert
hatrack
(59,594 posts)How inappropriate!
Champion Jack
(5,378 posts)RobertEarl
(13,685 posts)They are asking for advice from all over the world. Calling all experts!
Ya know, this situation is not something we've ever had to deal with before. Maybe it is one of those 'tipping' points?