Thewatchers - 9/6/13, Adonai
The Bayou Corne sinkhole, also known as Louisiana sinkhole, was discovered in August 2012 when a Napoleonville salt dome, a naturally-occurring underground salt deposit, suddenly collapsed after months of unexplained seismic activity and mysterious bubbling at the bayou. The sinkhole grew from 1 to 25 acres in just 12 months and the scariest part of it is that the collapse unlocked tens of millions of cubic feet of explosive gases, which have seeped into the aquifer and wafted up to the community (40 million cubic feet = 1.13 million cubic meters).
Texas Brine, the operator of the salt dome, specializes in a process known as injection mining and had been drilling around the dome in order to extract brine, which is used for refining oil. When they mined the salt dome too close to the edge of the dome, say officials, the side wall collapsed and 350 nearby residents were immediately advised to evacuate.
