Louisiana Sinkhole Swallows Trees in Seconds

[Hum]

The power of a Louisiana sinkhole nearly 24 acres in size was captured on camera Wednesday when the sinkhole swallowed up trees and land in just seconds.

The video was captured by officials with the Assumption Parish Office of Emergency Preparedness and posted on the parish's blog. The sinkhole sits in the middle of a heavily wooded space in Assumption Parish, which is about 50 miles south of Baton Rouge.

The sinkhole was nearly 400 feet deep with a diameter of 372 feet when it first opened in August 2012. The opening forced a mandatory evacuation order for about 150 residences of the parish's nearly 24,000 residents for fear of potential radiation and explosions.

Officials described Wednesday's sinkhole event as a "slough-in." The parish has been posting regular updates on and videos of the sinkhole, including a "burp" earlier in the day Wednesday - caused by air and gas from deep in the sinkhole bubbling up - that raised the code alert to level three, the highest level possible.

All crew activity was halted in the area after Wednesday's events, according to the city's blog.

The sinkhole is now the source of a lawsuit between the state of Louisiana and Texas Brine Company, which owns a nearby salt cavern.

After being used for nearly 30 years, the cavern was plugged in 2011 and officials believe the integrity of the cavern may have somehow been compromised, leading to the sinkhole.

Gov. Bobby Jindal and Attorney General Buddy Caldwell announced earlier this month that the state will sue the company for environmental damages.

source & video

[chrisj1968]

I reckon by guessing that, Sinkholes "might" have something to do with all the fracking. When we frack natural gas out of the ground, there's an empty space in the ground and the hole has to collapse somehow.

[+Ryster Subscriber²]

I reckon by guessing that, Sinkholes "might" have something to do with all the fracking. When we frack natural gas out of the ground, there's an empty space in the ground and the hole has to collapse somehow.

 

I've just been reading a bit into this (assuming it's the same sink hole), and from what I understand this was indeed caused by oil and gas extraction, though it was the salt dome the gas was trapped against that collapsed, not the space where the gas was extracted from.  Apparently oil and gas has been leaking from these wells for a while now, and the conspiracy theory is that the media are covering that fact up.

[Growled Member]

I reckon by guessing that, Sinkholes "might" have something to do with all the fracking. When we frack natural gas out of the ground, there's an empty space in the ground and the hole has to collapse somehow.

Yep. Just seems like common sense to me.

[Hum]

Might be Aliens, digging tunnels ... :p

[+InsaneNutter MVC]

"We're sorry... This video is not available in your location."

Bit of a crappy website... did i miss anything? sounded like the video might be interesting!

[Hum]

"We're sorry... This video is not available in your location."

Bit of a crappy website... did i miss anything? sounded like the video might be interesting!

Try here:

 

http://www.youtube.com/user/assumptionla

 

[+InsaneNutter MVC]

Try here:

 

http://www.youtube.com/user/assumptionla

Cheers!

Pretty interesting to see, surprising how fast that tree went!

Wouldn't personally want to be standing around there and filming.

[Aergan]

What is / was the yellow floating cable thing for?

[Hum]

^ I'm not sure -- discourage alligators ? Swimming ... ?

[ANON86364]

After being used for nearly 30 years, the cavern was plugged in 2011 and officials believe the integrity of the cavern may have somehow been compromised, leading to the sinkhole.

The sickening part of this is that this will never be looked into or will never be public knowledge.

[neufuse Veteran]

What is / was the yellow floating cable thing for?

looks a LOT like the systems they use to hold oil slicks back

[LaP]

We're sorry ... This video is not avalaible in your location.

 

SERIOUSLY!

[Hum]

^ Did you try the Youtube links ?

[spacer]

That was creepy as hell, just seeing the trees sinking and disappear.

[Top Qat]

 

Wouldn't personally want to be standing around there and filming.

 

That's what I thought.

 

Last thing i'm gonna do is hang around and watch a large section of ground disappear.

You could easily be joining those trees down below.

[Azies]

Wow look how it lowers the water level dramatically, that's nuts, and a little scary.

[Hum]

^ I'm surprised that dry land didn't appear, or a giant empty hole.

[Growled Member]

This might be how Atlantis reappears one day. :P