Published: August 14th, 2012 at 1:56 pm ET
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Title: Mysterious Louisiana Sinkhole Raises Concerns of Explosions and Radiation
Source: ABC News
Author: CHRISTINA NG
Date: Aug 14, 2012
A nearly 400-foot deep sinkhole in Louisiana has swallowed all of the trees in its area and enacted a mandatory evacuation order for about 150 residences for fear of potential radiation and explosions.[...]
Title: Sinkhole answers will take 40 days
Source: AP
Author: SHEILA V KUMAR
Date: Aug 11, 2012
[...]Mark Cartwright, president of United Brine Services, a subsidiary of Texas Brine Co., said the company spent the last week “intensely focused” on an emergency response as they try to figure out the cause behind a sinkhole near Bayou Corne.
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seismic readings from the U.S. Geological Survey were able to narrow down the concentration of the earthquakes to the western edge of the dome, which is where the Texas Brine salt cavern lies.
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It’s still unclear if the salt dome has been breached. Cartwright says they believe the sinkhole won’t have any more sudden changes, though it could still grow.
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Published: August 14th, 2012 at 1:56 pm ET
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Need to have laws against industries messing up our world. And we need to get back to the garden. Seriously.
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Yes. Back to the garden. Seriously.
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+ a million. Seriously.
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This is out of control. They do not know what they are doing.
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The DNR has ordered Texas Brine to drill a new hole into the salt dome. Will take 40 days. In the same press conference last Friday, there was a question about a capped and abandoned well. Turns out there are 50 abandoned and capped wells in the area. All dug into this same salt dome. Couldn't they get the data they are seeking from uncapping an existing well, rather than taking 40 days to dig a new well? Or do I just think I hear official delay and misinformation everywhere these days?
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we may not have that much time https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=wcbLvO0-huQ
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For an interesting read go to http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Asse_II_mine It is a German salt mine used to store nuclear waste.
The first part is good as you can educate yourself to some of the issues the Germans faced with this type of nuclear storage.
When they say naturally occurring radiation I beg to differ. The radon gas was produced as a by product of human activity. When they started using salt mines to store waste, they just used whatever salt mine. After the practice became common, they mined the salt in such a way as to facilitate storage. Probability of lots of older salt mines in area with inferior structural integrity storing radiated waste with the possibility that some bright spark snuck in some high level waste. I guess you have to be pretty smart to understand the advantages of storing nuclear waste underground in a water soluble container.
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Hi Mark, yes. This is our absolute nightmare. Already 12 tons of water leaking in there daily.
Govmt kicking the can around, while geologists warned for years the whole mess won't be stable beyond ca. 2020.
Noone has an idea how to get the stuff out (technologies to be invented – sounds familiar, eh?)
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Studying up on how a nuclear reactor works and the whole Fukushima debacle, I had no idea they stored nuclear waste in old salt mines. Who'd of thought?
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Mark, good to know there is an English Wikipedia article on Asse II. Sadly it's somewhat outdated.
In short, they used that mine because it was directly at the border to communist East Germany.
They pretended it to be a temporary experimental storage, but used it as a final storage. Hundreds of thousands of yellow barrels, many of them destroyed.
The neighboring salt mines already all ran full of water, one of it approaching Asse II by only 50 meters. Water is already seeping out of the wet salt walls in the mine.
People want to have as many of the barrels recovered before Asse II floods. Politicians want to wait until the mine gets flooded, because doing nothing is easiest.
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"Authorities enacted a mandatory evacuation for between 100 and150 homes in the area, but most people have chosen to stay,"
SP: I understand why it is hard to leave their homes. Unknown and virtually invisible threat, no compensation being offered. Who can blame them?
I hope someone offers them this advice from Cherobyl liquidator Nataliya Manzurova:
"Run away as quickly as possible. Don’t wait. Save yourself and don’t rely on the government because the government lies. They don’t want you to know the truth because the nuclear industry is so powerful.”
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I wish someone with a gieger counter could get in there an at least test the area near the sink hole.
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Seismologist exposed Louisiana had 1000s quakes before sinkhole: http://exm.nr/RdXEvS
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I doubt the radioactivity is really the main problem here. "Naturally occurring radioactivity" is not very specific, but probably not very dangerous unless you eat it. The limits for storing radioactive waste are very low, so I doubt this is a radioactive hazard I would be concerned with.
But Louisiana has been a dumping ground for chemicals for decades, and that is what I would worry about. I bet there are chemical hazards they are not talking about.
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This incident should be added to the long list that keeps growing and growing and growing….
Lists of nuclear disasters and radioactive incidents; via A Green Road http://agreenroad.blogspot.com/2012/04/lists-of-nuclear-disasters-and.html
Into Eternity; A Movie About Nuclear Waste Permanent Repository Issues; via A Green Road http://agreenroad.blogspot.com/2012/05/into-eternity-movie-about-nuclear-waste.html
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