This is the eighth article in this series about the Bayou Corne sinkhole.
BACKGROUND: In Spring of 2012, Louisiana's Corne and Grand Bayou residents noticed strange bubbling in the bayou for many weeks, and they reported smelling burnt diesel fuel and sulfur. Then suddenly a sinkhole the size of three football fields appeared on Aug. 3, swallowing scores of 100-foot tall cypress trees. The sinkhole resulted from the failure of Texas Brine Company's abandoned underground brine cavern. The Department of Natural Resources issued a Declaration of Emergency on Aug. 6, and 150 families were evacuated.
For maps, diagrams and additional information, please see the seven previous articles in this series:
7. Gov. Jindal Ignores Sinkhole Disaster; Activists & Scientists Demand Assistance for Traumatized Residents (Jan. 20, 2013) at click here
6. Sudden Seismic Activity in Louisiana Bayou: Sinkhole Burps, Pad Cracks, Police Copter Arrives UPDATED (Jan. 19, 2013) at click here
5. Bayou Sinkhole Site Update: Flammable Tap Water (Nov. 2, 2012) at click here4. Alarming Sinkhole Continues to Cave In: Seismic Activity, Odors, Health Symptoms Reported (Oct. 30, 2012) at click here
3. Mysterious Bayou Sinkhole Continues to Cave In: Radiation, Hydrocarbons Detected (Sept. 29, 2012) at click here
2. Dangerous Levels of Radium at Corne Bayou Sinkhole (Aug. 26, 2012) at click here
1. Does Sudden Sinkhole Portend a Nuclear-sized Explosion? (Aug. 17, 2012) at click here
NAPOLEONVILLE, LA: At 2:45 pm Central Time, Jan. 22, 2013, The Assumption Parish Police Jury released a video of a newly discovered, vigorously bubbling site near the gigantic sinkhole in Bayou Corne.
The sinkhole has been out of control since it appeared on August 3rd, 2012, and is now about 4 times its original size, which was about that of 3 football fields. The impacted area is currently approximately 12 acres.
The Assumption Parish Police Jury calls bubbling Site #29 "very significant." The 27-second video of bubbling site #29 is below:
Environmental Scientist Wilma Subra, of the Subra Company, was kind enough to make time to answer my questions about this today.
MAB - Ms. Subra, can you explain briefly what is going on with this new bubbling site, and why it is significant, and what might we expect?
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