Cajuns Boycott La. Sinkhole 'Community Meeting' (VIDEOS)

Paradise Lost, Bayou Corne, the way it was

Louisiana sinkhole’s Bayou Corne residents boycotted a meeting Tuesday night after learning it would be controlled by the company faulted for the state of emergency due to the chemical disaster there and for the mandatory evacuation since August 2012.

The meeting was to be an informational one, an update, mainly on what officials say is still their primary concern, large amounts of methane gas gathering under the sinkhole, the two bayous – Bayou Corne and Grand Bayou - and nearby communities, where some 300 residents have been under a mandatory evacuation since for seventeen months, with no end in sight.

“Why are these updates left in Texas Brine’s hands?” resident Mike Schaff asked in an email, after attending the meeting Tuesday evening. (See YouTube video of the meeting below this article.)

Texas Brine LLC is the company that leased a cavern in the 1-mile by 3-mile Napoleonville Salt Dome, an oil and gas and related industry storage facility. Texas Brine, with state authorization, quietly abandoned that cavern years ago when  problems arose there.

That cavern began collapsing. Built near the edge of the salt dome, that side of the salt dome is also compromised. The result of the wreckless oil and gas-related operation has been a 26-acre chemical lake, a globally unprecedented “sinkhole.”

Just last week, the monster sinkhole again gobbled down more trees and again grew, as seen in the video below, dated Jan. 7.

Since Texas Brine’s cavern collapsed, increasingly, methane gas has been and accumulating, posing a life-threatning risk of an explosion or series of explosions in the Bayou Corne and Grand Bayou communities, less than 50 miles from Baton  Rouge.

Between the sinkhole and Baton Rouge, oil, gas and related chemical refineries dot the landscape. Daily they relase ominous dirty particles.

It is feared that a sinkhole explosion would trigger one or more of those refineries to also explode, a nightmare feared by many, even some officials.

Hundreds of “accidents,” accidental explosions that environmental researchers and legal experts say are “accidents on purpose,” occur along the stretch each year. Such accidents, usually in the night, are a favorite way oil and gas companies relase dangerous chemicals that they’d otherwise have to pay to get rid of. Instead, locals are just told to stay insdie, duct-tape their doors and windows, and use their air-conditioners. Many in the area live below the poverty level, so have no air conditioners.

The result of Louisiana’s oil boom down in Assumption Parish bayou country is destruction of what was once one of the nation’s most pristine environments and most unique Cajun bayou cultures.

That rich culture, it’s soulful people, unique language, unfectious music and dance can all be viewed in the program below, Zydeco: Creole Music and Culture in Rural Louisiana. 

Schaff says he’s a resident of “Paradise Stolen, Bayou Corne.” The area has all but officially been declared a National Sacrifice Zone.

He and other locals want to know why ‘community meetings’ are held in confined quarters of a trailer, instead of at the local community center, and why ample notice is not sent out to residents. 

“Most evacuees that I have spoken to say they refuse to attend a meeting in which Texas Brine is in charge due to their severe mistrust of this company,” he stated. “Despite the few in attendance who want it to be held in the trailer, the vast majority want it to be held in Napoleonville or Pierre Part.

Schaff expressed another grievance: venting the methane gas, that has been building since August 2012, into the atmosphere, “not even a flare!”, in close proximity to the neighborhood and highway is now apparently endorsed by Office of Conservation, DEQ and DNR.

“Would this be allowed if this were University Club? Country Club of Louisiana? Pelican Point? I-10?” he asked. “Is this purposeful non-flared venting allowed ANYWHERE else in the state of Louisiana?”

Another question he asks of state officials is, if this venting would be allowed in more high-profile areas, “at what quantity of cu. ft. per hour is the cut-off point where this is allowed?”

“If this is so safe, then why not just vent ALL the gas directly into the neighborhood this way?”

“Could someone in authority please tell us WHAT IS GOING ON AND WHO IS SETTING THESE STANDARDS?”