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Tuesday, December 4, 2012

Two-Block Radius / Oil / Enviro The Burping Sinkhole

Posted by Brendan Kiley on Tue, Dec 4, 2012 at 11:34 AM

Have you heard about the eight-acre sinkhole in Louisiana? Apparently, it's been "burping" up "debris"—including hydrocarbons, which are found in crude oil—and the surrounding swamp has been bubbling and smelling like gas. Local authorities have warned of explosions and evacuated hundreds of residents, who are angry that Governor Jindal, who only lives 50 miles away, hasn't visited.

Some say the sinkhole could be related to the BP Deepwater disaster and that "methane-bubble tsunami" people were talking about two years ago. Others blame a collapsed "brine storage cavern" ~~related to closer oil-drilling operations~~. (It appears this salt cavern was involved with salt mining, though engineered salt caves in the region are also used for oil and gas storage.)

Either way, this apparent drilling operation across the street from Stranger HQ—at least it sounds like a drilling operation—has us all on edge:

If we disappear into a smoking crater in the near future, don't blame the smiting hand of god. Blame the oil industry.

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Comments (17) RSS

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The best part of the BP disaster was we didn't have to listen to a single elected official tell Americans to stop driving as much since that is directly related to those disasters.

So ONWARD to more drilling and the XL Pipeline!!! I'm gonna buy an SUV this weekend!!!!

Posted by Cato the Younger Younger on December 4, 2012 at 11:40 AM

DRILL BABY DRILL!

Posted by Urgutha Forka on December 4, 2012 at 11:47 AM

Don't worry, chances are the Louisiana engineers were using faith-based techniques, something that would not happen in the civilized world.

Posted by Theodore Gorath on December 4, 2012 at 11:48 AM

I thought The Stranger was a protected wildlife reserve.

Posted by Gern Blanston on December 4, 2012 at 11:51 AM

Smiting Hand of God = Invisible Hand of the Market

If oil drilling should destroy you all in a horrible sink hole, it's just the Free Market's way of telling the world he loves us.

Posted by MacCrocodile

on December 4, 2012 at 12:12 PM

It's all part of the #climatecliff - meanwhile BP CEO just got his pay doubled. Today.

Posted by Will in Seattle

on December 4, 2012 at 12:15 PM

Actually, the drilling in that area has nothing to do with oil. It is a salt-mining operation. Now ultimately, the over-drilling and over mining down here is probably all related, but this doesn't have anything to do with oil drilling in general or the Deepwater Horizon specifically.

And as far as Jindal goes, he doesn't give two shits about the state he is governor of. He doesn't talk to any media in the state, and he spends more time traveling to try to advance his presidential campaign than worrying about what happens here.

Posted by Sheryl on December 4, 2012 at 12:20 PM

That photo is art.

Posted by sarah70 on December 4, 2012 at 12:30 PM

I'm dying to know what is going in there... although I moved FAR FAR AWAY (3 blocks) and never walk past it anymore. What is going to go there!?!?!!?!??? Do some detective work, The Stranger.

Posted by ScienceNerd on December 4, 2012 at 12:38 PM

I believe that's a pile-driver, not a drilling rig, working across 11th Ave there, maybe shoring up the foundation?

The U-Link tunnel doesn't go directly under you guys, I don't think, but perhaps the excavations were close enough to disturb some of those shaky soil layers?

Posted by rob!

on December 4, 2012 at 1:02 PM

I'm going with the pile driver idea, and I would guess the same on the shoring part. The shoring though is probably more related to the redevelopment of the building, that includes adding several stories atop the existing structure, facade to be.

Oh, and oil is a type of hydrocarbon, so I would be surprised if crude oil didn't contain any.

Posted by Derek

on December 4, 2012 at 1:13 PM

@10 and @11 Yep, the "Pile King" logo on the excavator seems to confirm. *smile*

Posted by Tracy on December 4, 2012 at 1:19 PM

If you're looking for environmental depredations in Louisiana, you never have to look far. Long before BP was even called that, LA was riddled with the nation's largest concentration of chemical and pharmaceutical factories along the Mississippi, and, as Sheryl @7 points out, salt mining, as well as the oil variety. In fact, my guess would be a combination of the two, as oil drillers inadvertently puncture hollowed-out salt mines. That's what caused the famous Lake Peigneur salt-dome collapse and sinkhole, which sounds similar to this one.

Posted by Fnarf

on December 4, 2012 at 1:35 PM

Oh yeah, and as noted above that pile driver doesn't have anything at all to do with the oil industry.

Posted by Fnarf

on December 4, 2012 at 1:36 PM

@6: STOP HASHTAGGING, REDDITFAG.

Posted by venomlash on December 4, 2012 at 2:58 PM

@12, are you sure they don't just sell really nice, period correct carpets, and the fact that they're working on a pile driving project is merely coincidental?

Posted by Derek

on December 4, 2012 at 3:11 PM