Scott Angelle is sinking to new heights

Last month, the Advocate published a friendly profile of former Louisiana Public Service Commissioner and failed gubernatorial/congressional candidate Scott Angelle.  Angelle has recently landed a new job which he enjoys very much.

Once a ubiquitous presence on the Louisiana political scene, Angelle arrived in D.C. in May to become director of the Bureau of Safety and Environmental Enforcement. It’s a job historically held by an unknown bureaucrat with an office in the massive U.S. Department of Interior building, three blocks from the White House.

But President Donald Trump is pushing American “energy dominance” as a cornerstone of his presidency. This puts Angelle at the president’s shoulder for enabling domestic fossil fuels production.

In October, the Trump administration proposed opening nearly 77 million acres in the Gulf of Mexico — the largest offering in U.S. history — for oil and gas drilling. The lease sales are scheduled for March.

On Nov. 28, the Bureau of Safety and Environmental Enforcement approved energy exploration in the Arctic.

And just before the Christmas holiday, Angelle’s office suspended as duplicative a study meant to improve how regulators enforce safety on offshore rigs in the wake of the 2010 Deepwater Horizon explosion that killed 11 and spilled an estimated 3.2 million barrels of oil 40 miles off the coast of Louisiana.

All this activity has enraged environmentalists, but it falls in line with Angelle’s beliefs.

“This is a really, really impactful job for America, and it’s really important to Louisiana’s economy,” said Angelle, who previously oversaw oilfield activity in Louisiana as secretary of the Department of Natural Resources under two governors.

Scott Angelle has "enraged environmentalists"? That doesn't seem right.  Don't they remember the major environmental award he received in 2011? Or does the Louisiana Mid-Continent Oil and Gas Association's "Blue Heron Award" not speak for itself? 

Aaron Viles, deputy director of the Gulf Restoration Network, questioned whether it is ever appropriate for an association to give an award to someone who oversees the regulation of its members.

"Mid Continent giving an environmental award to Scott Angelle is like GE giving a nuclear safety award to the leadership of Fukushima Prefecture," Viles said.

But Louisiana Gov. Bobby Jindal, who handed out the award, said in a statement that "Scott has been a warrior for our people and our coast."

So harsh! Those rage-prone environmentalists sure do hate "energy dominance," I guess. As does this judge, apparently.

In a blistering new ruling, a state district judge criticized three companies for putting "economic interests over environmental and safety concerns" in operations that led to the formation of the 2012 Bayou Corne sinkhole, blaming longtime salt mining operator Texas Brine, Occidental Chemical and Vulcan Materials for the flawed underground mine that sparked the giant hole in the Louisiana swamp.

At the very least, he hates salt dominance, anyway.  The case against the companies includes a paper trail of memos and emails demonstrating the parties were aware of the environmental hazards associated with creating the mine but moved forward anyway because, as the judge put it, "each party was blinded by the financial implications of their actions.”  One such hazard they ignored was this oil well.

Salt caverns are often filled with highly concentrated brine when they are closed. Like the air in a balloon, the brine helps maintain a shut cavern's supporting salt structure against geologic forces that naturally press down on the underground cavity.

Kliebert accepted the Texas Brine expert's theory that an oil formation, depleted and depressurized from the old well, was tied into the cavern due to fractures in the thin salt wall. The oil formation provided a place for leaking brine to go that otherwise would not exist so deep underground.

But sometimes you have to push through that stuff.  Ignoring safety hazards in the hope of wriggling out of your share of the blame later is just how Louisiana does business.  Angelle knows. He resigned from the Department of Natural Resources at just the right time, after all.  That's exactly the sort of presence of mind it takes to win you a cushy job in the Trump Administration doing the Energy Dominance... not to mention the Blue Heron Awards you pick up along the way. Very prestigious.

Get em coming and going

The drama of frequent environmental disaster in Louisiana sure does make for good theater. But it's not really even the source of the deep trauma.  That comes later as the victims are slowly taken advantage of over a period of many years after the event. 

So if you really know what you're doing, you'll get your people in on both sides of that business.

I believe Connie M. Easterly is the former, possibly current, wife of Shelby Easterly.  I don't know if this officially constitutes a conflict of interest but I would think it should have been disclosed to the court before he applied for the Special Master position.  

But then again, in this state a judge could get caught in the sack with a juror and it would be overlooked.  Now a judge, a prosecuting attorney and a juror....that ménage à trois may raise eyebrows...maybe.  

Also note that Calvin Fayard was formerly a law partner of one of Texas Brine's current attorneys,  James E. "Jimmy" Kuhn.  Kuhn also served as a judge for Louisiana's First Circuit Court of Appeals.

Environmental law in Louisiana

That's it. That's the whole punchline.

Sinkhole hungry

So this is still happening.

BAYOU CORNE, La. —Parish officials say the 29-acre sinkhole in Assumption Parish swallowed six cypress trees Wednesday and had its first deep burp of gas and fluid since late August.

The Advocate reports the event comes nearly two weeks after lead scientists investigating the sinkhole for state regulators said the hole seemed to be on the path to stabilizing.

Stock footage

Eventually we'll get enough video of the Texas Brine sinkhole swallowing whole trees to fill a whole decade's worth of low budget horror movies.  So another big win for Hollywood South, there.

They call that a sinkhole?

French Quarter sinkhole frustrates neighbors. Action Report 6pm. pic.twitter.com/MplsgAAT1y
— Bill Capo (@BillCapo) October 17, 2013

I don't think they know what they're talking about. This is a sinkhole.



And actually that photo is from last year. Tomorrow afternoon I need to get out and update the set.

Apparently there's money in the capital budget for street repairs so I'm thinking every moment with our three-year old neighborhood crater is precious. That reminds me. The Holidays are coming.  Time to start working on a new display.



Meanwhile... "Sinkhole Frustrates Neighbors"

BAYOU CORNE, LA (WAFB) - Life in the community of Bayou Corne has been anything but normal since a giant sinkhole opened up. One official says the surface of the sinkhole could double in size. Right now, it is at 26 acres.

Umm....

So this seems bad.

A nuclear expert has told the BBC that he believes the current water leaks at Fukushima are much worse than the authorities have stated. 

Mycle Schneider is an independent consultant who has previously advised the French and German governments.

He says water is leaking out all over the site and there are no accurate figures for radiation levels.
Meanwhile the chairman of Japan's nuclear authority said that he feared there would be further leaks.

The ongoing problems at the Fukushima plant increased in recent days when the Tokyo Electric Power Company (Tepco) admitted that around 300 tonnes of highly radioactive water had leaked from a storage tank on the site.

 Meanwhile, in other slow-motion disaster news

Assumption Parish officials on Wednesday released a video showing the sinkhole swallowing several trees in a matter of seconds.

The video, posted on the city's blog, is described a "slough in" that happened around 7:15 p.m. Wednesday.

Sinking feelings

National headlines this morning:

Front page of today's USA Today:

In the past eight decades, Louisiana has lost 1,880 square miles of coastal marshes, or an area about the size of Manhattan every year. With another hurricane season upon us, it is land that Louisiana and the nation can ill afford to lose. The same threat of lost barrier islands and wetlands stalks more than half of the coastal properties of the continental United States, extending from Maine to Texas. But here in southeastern Louisiana, it's at its worst.

The sub-head adds insult to injury by throwing in a gratuitous line about "climate change-spiced gumbo." Try not to think about that.

Also here's a Mother Jones feature on Bayou Corne:

Bayou Corne is the biggest ongoing industrial disaster in the United States you haven't heard of. In addition to creating a massive sinkhole, it has unearthed an uncomfortable truth: Modern mining and drilling techniques are disturbing the geological order in ways that scientists still don't fully understand. Humans have been extracting natural resources from the earth since the dawn of mankind, but never before at the rate and magnitude of today's petrochemical industry. And the side effects are becoming clear.

And finally there's this local headline:

New Orleans Saints lose receiver Joe Morgan, defensive lineman Kenyon Coleman for season

More memories

Happy Birthday, Bayou Corne Sinkhole.  You grew up so fast.

Anti-Clampet

In real life when you go out in the backyard and find that something comes a-bubblin' up from the ground, it's not quite the ticket to paradise it is on TV.

While many of the neighbors in Bayou Corne have moved away in the nine months since the Assumption Parish sinkhole formed across La. 70 South from their house, the Pipsairs have remained, in spite of a parish evacuation order issued Aug. 3.

Rhett Pipsair, 50, the father of two adult sons, said he has not evacuated because he has not been afraid of the sinkhole since it formed.

About a month ago, however, gas started bubbling up underneath a deck in one corner of his oblong pond, Pipsair said.

“This is making me think twice now that it’s in my own backyard,” Pipsair said. “I mean I’ve been building this place for 23 years. I can’t just up and leave, you know what I mean.”

Maddening weather this time of year

Every day it's something different.  One day the highs are in the 80s, the next they're in the 60s only to shoot right back up again the day after that.  One day a deluge, the next day it's bright and sunny.

Light fog in the morning Heavy Hydrogen Sulfide cloud in the afternoon.

The smell in NOLA yesterday was likely due to a benzene and hydrogen sulfide release in Chalmette, according to the Louisiana Department of Environmental Quality. The culprit, Chalmette Refining, revealed that there was a leak in a pipeline that contained the two toxic chemicals, and there is an ongoing investigation to determine whether there are any other leaks in the facility.

In a few weeks it will be marshfire season.  That comes right after exploding house season is up.

BAYOU CORNE — Explosive concentrations of gas were found this week in soil underneath two homes and a shed built on concrete slabs in the Bayou Corne community near a large swampland sinkhole, officials said Wednesday.

Today in sinkhole news

From Florida, a little known homeowner's insurance fact:

Sinkholes are so common in Florida that the state requires home insurers to provide coverage against the danger. While some cars, homes and other buildings have been devoured, it is extremely rare for a sinkhole to swallow a person.

No, they aren't usually carnivorous. Except in cases like the one linked above which is actually quite horrifying. 

Jeff Bush, 37, was in his bedroom on Thursday night when the earth opened and took him and everything else in his room. Five other people were in the house but escaped unharmed. Mr. Bush’s brother jumped into the hole to try to help, but he had to be rescued by a sheriff’s deputy.

Perhaps a bit too soon The Levee has followed up on this by reporting on a similar local phenomenon.

In the wake of the sinkhole that claimed the life of a Florida man, a New Orleans woman is missing after being swallowed by one of the city’s infamous potholes, police said Saturday.

The unidentified New Orleans woman was pushing a grocery cart apparently to the nearby Rouse’s Supermarket early Saturday morning when a giant pothole opened up – a common occurrence in the city – on Robert Street at busy Magazine Street and swallowed her, witnesses said.

The Levee story includes a photo of the apparently orphaned grocery cart.  Here's a similar incident to that one which we've reported on ourselves numerous times.



Meanwhile, in Bayou Corne, the Texas Brine chemical swamp sinkhole now covers approximately 8.6 acres.  Residents there are asking to be bought out.  

On the 200th day of their mandatory evacuation, Assumption Parish residents asked legislators for help Tuesday in persuading Texas Brine Co. LLC to buy homes affected by an 8.6-acre sinkhole.
Bayou Corne homeowner Candy Blanchard said she will never again feel safe in the house she built six years ago.

“Texas Brine has taught me more about purgatory and limbo, and I went to Catholic school, than the nuns could,” Blanchard said.

In response, legislators pressed Texas Brine officials for their position on buyouts. The company said it is in conversations with its insurance carrier.

After 200 plus days the Bayou Corne sinkhole is finally beginning to attract some celebrity attention.  Next weekend, environmental activist Erin Brockovich will appear at a community meeting in Pierre Part to discuss legal options with residents... provided the earth doesn't swallow her unexpectedly between now and then.

Sinkhole envy

Well sure, I guess, just because yours is technically bigger they'll all come out and take pictures of it. 

NEW ORLEANS —A sinkhole that started out small has grown to about 10 feet in diameter -- and several feet deep. That's according to some who work in the 4000 block of Michoud Blvd., near Gentilly Road, where the once pothole-sized crevasse has expanded dramatically over a 3-month span.

Maybe size matters to WDSU, but I've always been told the important thing was what you do with it.  Our sinkhole has not only been around nearly 3 years instead of 3 months (so stamina counts for something), but it's also been put to a variety of creative uses as the slideshow here indicates.

Of course, the One True Sinkhole will always put the imitators to shame.

The sinkhole in northern Assumption Parish got a little larger on Tuesday.

Parish officials reported roughly 5,000 square feet of land sloughed off into the sinkhole Tuesday morning and that by Tuesday afternoon, the land-loss had grown to an estimated 7,500 square feet, said John Boudreaux, director of the Assumption Parish Office of Homeland Security.

Boudreaux said he hadn’t remeasured the sinkhole, which was last determined to be 8.6 acres at its surface, but it possibly could cover as many as 9 acres after the 75-foot-by-100-foot parcel of land crumbled and fell into the slurry hole on Tuesday.

It's probably best not to compare, for the sake of everyone's confidence. 

Where it bubbles all the time like a giant carbonated soda

Advocate: New bubble site found southwest of sinkhole

Among the many points of amusement here, the expanding sinkhole is threatening to swallow the remediation work. 

Parish officials added Tuesday that the discovery has led to speculation that the row of bubbles marks the edge of a suspected subsidence zone around the outer rim of the sinkhole and also prompted officials to shift the location of a 1,000-foot-deep well that Texas Brine had been directed to drill at the end of the access road.

The well will be moved to the front of the road, officials said.

John Boudreaux, director of the parish Office of Homeland Security and Emergency Preparedness, said Shaw Environmental and Infrastructure Inc. recommended the change to avoid the possibility that the well, which will be used to collect seismic data, would be compromised in the future.

“They don’t want to make that critical mistake,” he said.

Shaw is the agent for the Louisiana Office of Conservation, which regulates salt caverns and is leading the response to the sinkhole and its side effects. Conservation Commissioner Jim Welsh ordered the well to be drilled as part of an agreement with Texas Brine earlier this month that ended the company’s lawsuit over response plans.

Boudreaux said Tuesday a representative of the landowner found the bubble sites late last week while checking the property from an airboat. He said the representative gave the frothing site the “mother of all bubble sites” moniker.

But can they decorate it for the holidays?

Advocate:

State highway officials plan to start early next year with a six-month study into the feasibility of an alternative route around an 8-acre sinkhole in northern Assumption Parish.

Though carrying just 6,000 vehicles per day, La. 70 cuts through isolated swamp and provides a key connector between La. 1 along Bayou Lafourche and parts west and south, including Pierre Part and Morgan City.

The growing sinkhole is 1,200 feet south of La. 70 South between Grand Bayou and Bayou Corne.

Current estimates have the sinkhole, believed to have been caused by a failed Texas Brine Co. LLC cavern in the Napoleonville Dome, about 640 feet across from north to south and 690 feet across from east to west.

The highway study is the initial step the Louisiana Department of Transportation and Development takes to consider a proposed highway before basic design begins, DOTD officials said.

I hope Texas Brine will at least be asked to cover the cost of this study plus whatever work it eventually recommends.  Our own sinkhole mitigation project last week was limited only to making the local vegetation more festive.  We spent about twelve dollars.



Most of the ornaments have already been picked off of the bush so we're wondering if maybe we should refresh it a little. I'll ask DOTD to come out and assess it for us.

Starting to think maybe they should drop an Alka-Seltzer down there

Serious reflux going on 

Enough earth flowed into the formerly plugged and abandoned cavern to squeeze the brine inside the cavern and raise its pressure so that a “frack out” of the cavern occurred, extending to the surface.

Hecox said a frack out happens when hydraulic pressure is raised enough to cause cracks that serve as channels to release the pressure.

The frack out brought up brine, oil and natural gas from surrounding natural formations along the salt dome’s edge to the overlying water aquifer and to the surface.

The movement of the compacted earth into the cavern created instability that led to the sinkhole, he said.

Watch your step

Or maybe carry a divining rod with you or something.

The current failure filled about three-fourths of the cavern’s space with earth. The sinkhole is roughly 550 feet across and has had occasional edge collapses that incrementally increase its surface dimensions, according to figures provided by the parish, DNR and Texas Brine.

Boudreaux said the assumption all along has been that the existing sinkhole would continue to grow, but last week he asked who is to say whether another sinkhole might form somewhere else.

"Linked to a flare"

Does this mean they're going try setting the sinkhole on fire?

Shaw officials working with the Louisiana Department of Natural Resources on the sinkhole told about 100 residents gathered for a community meeting Tuesday that the well north of La. 70 and another drilled on the same site would be linked to a flare to begin removing the gas gradually.

Gary Hecox, a geologist with Shaw Environmental, said releasing the gas too aggressively could damage the well and prevent needed data collection.

“So we’re going to start off and follow a fairly methodical way of doing it, but we’re doing it as fast as we can but still keep everybody safe,” he said.