IntelliHub – by JG Vibes After a salt dome collapsed and created a sinkhole, residents from the surrounding area are continually being evacuated since august of last year, with some accepting buyout offers from the company responsible for the disaster.
Company spokesman Sonny Cranch says that as of noon Sunday, 33 of 91 people have taken out-of-court settlements in advance of a 5:30 p.m. Monday deadline. Residents and Houston-based Texas Brine have until then, under a judge’s order, to reach agreements. After that, residents will need lawyers to negotiate with the company in a lawsuit pending in New Orleans federal court. About 350 Bayou Corne residents have faced evacuation orders since the salt dome cavern collapsed almost 11 months ago. Texas Brine made settlement offers to residents who haven’t yet hired a lawyer.
The company’s drive to reach settlements comes as the sinkhole — now a 22.4-acre opening underneath floodwaters inside containment levees surrounding a 82-acre swath of swamp — emitted more tremors and another burp about 10 p.m. Thursday. John Boudreaux, director of the parish Office of Homeland Security and Emergency Preparedness, said his office received calls late Thursday night about a petroleum odor that signaled the onset of burp activity. Increasing tremors this week also pointed to a possible burp.
The sinkhole, which first gained attention in 2012, hasn’t received much notice beyond local Louisiana newspapers, but some concerned environmentalists have dubbed it an“unprecedented environmental disaster.” As of December, io9reported that cleanup efforts had failed to prevent pollutants in the sinkhole from spreading to nearby waterways. And the sinkhole has only continued to be plagued by problems.
Currently residents are still being evacuated with no other solution in sight.
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J.G. Vibes is the author of an 87 chapter counter-culture textbook called Alchemy of the Modern Renaissance, a staff writer, reporter forIntellihub.com and Executive Producer of the Bob Tuskin Radio Show. You can keep up with his work, which includes free podcasts, free e-books & free audiobooks at his website www.aotmr.com
http://intellihub.com/2013/06/26/giant-louisiana-sinkhole-now-a-22-4-acre-opening/