Monthly Archives: November 2012

9:05 a.m. Resident Briefing, Tonight

Please be reminded that the resident briefing will be held tonight at the St. Joseph the Worker Catholic Church Hall in Pierre Part at 7:00 p.m.

Catechism classes will be taking place this evening. Residents, we ask that you refrain from arriving at the hall prior to 6:30 p.m. to avoid traffic issues as parents are picking up their children from classes.

5:10 p.m. Office of Conservation Orders Texas Brine to Take Further Steps to Protect Public Safety

NEWS RELEASE
http://www.dnr.louisiana.gov

For Immediate Release
Monday, Nov. 12, 2012
Contact: Phyllis Darensbourg, 225.342.0058

Office of Conservation Orders Texas Brine to Take Further Steps to Protect Public Safety
Directive specifies network of observation/vent wells, monitoring wells, subsidence benchmarks and home monitoring

BATON ROUGE – Louisiana Commissioner of Conservation James Welsh today ordered Texas Brine LLC to install a network of observation/vent wells, pressure monitoring wells and elevation benchmarks for subsidence monitoring in the Bayou Corne area to ensure the public’s safety. The commissioner also ordered the company to assume responsibility for operating the observation/vent wells already installed by the Office of Conservation’s contracted agent, Shaw Environmental and Infrastructure, and to provide containment around the sinkhole area to prevent any release of oil into nearby waterways.

The new orders under the existing Declaration of Emergency and Directive also specifically require Texas Brine to install in-home monitors to detect possible natural gas accumulations and to upgrade home ventilation for all slab-foundation buildings within the Bayou Corne evacuation area established by Assumption Parish. These additional orders are needed because of the potential for methane accumulation connected to the failure of Texas Brine’s nearby brine mining cavern.

Though Texas Brine is being ordered to assume responsibility for operating and installing the networks of wells and monitoring equipment, Welsh said, the actions taken must meet the specifications and requirements of the Office of Conservation’s oversight of the response to the sinkhole and ongoing presence of natural gas in and above the aquifer. These events are connected to the failure of Texas Brine’s abandoned brine cavern on the western side of the Napoleonville Salt Dome.

Welsh said the additional requirements are based on analysis by the Office of Conservation and expert consultants with the Office’s contracted agent, Shaw Environmental and Infrastructure, of underground conditions in the area above the top of the ground water aquifer, where natural gas pressure has been detected. Though past monitoring of slab-based structures in the area have shown no accumulation of natural gas in homes, Welsh said that all necessary steps must be taken to detect, minimize or prevent any such accumulation from occurring.

“The steps outlined in this directive will give us an added layer of protection in ensuring public safety and move the response effort closer to bringing the lives of the residents of the Bayou Corne area back to normal,” Welsh said. “They are designed to provide three lines of defense – ongoing removal of natural gas from the aquifer and underground in and around the community; use of ventilation as a preventative measure against potential natural gas accumulation in homes; and because we cannot take public safety for granted, constant monitoring for any possible natural gas accumulation in those structures.”

Welsh noted that his order will not alter the ongoing cooperative effort between the Office of Conservation and the state Department of Environmental Quality (DEQ) to run an additional round of in-home testing for methane accumulation in slab-built structures in the area to determine current conditions.

5:05 p.m. DNR News Release

NEWS RELEASE
http://www.dnr.louisiana.gov

For Immediate Release
Monday, Nov. 12, 2012
Contact: Phyllis Darensbourg, 225.342.0058

Office of Conservation Orders Texas Brine to Take Further Steps to Protect Public Safety
Directive specifies network of observation/vent wells, monitoring wells, subsidence benchmarks and home monitoring

BATON ROUGE – Louisiana Commissioner of Conservation James Welsh today ordered Texas Brine LLC to install a network of observation/vent wells, pressure monitoring wells and elevation benchmarks for subsidence monitoring in the Bayou Corne area to ensure the public’s safety. The commissioner also ordered the company to assume responsibility for operating the observation/vent wells already installed by the Office of Conservation’s contracted agent, Shaw Environmental and Infrastructure, and to provide containment around the sinkhole area to prevent any release of oil into nearby waterways.

The new orders under the existing Declaration of Emergency and Directive also specifically require Texas Brine to install in-home monitors to detect possible natural gas accumulations and to upgrade home ventilation for all slab-foundation buildings within the Bayou Corne evacuation area established by Assumption Parish. These additional orders are needed because of the potential for methane accumulation connected to the failure of Texas Brine’s nearby brine mining cavern.

Though Texas Brine is being ordered to assume responsibility for operating and installing the networks of wells and monitoring equipment, Welsh said, the actions taken must meet the specifications and requirements of the Office of Conservation’s oversight of the response to the sinkhole and ongoing presence of natural gas in and above the aquifer. These events are connected to the failure of Texas Brine’s abandoned brine cavern on the western side of the Napoleonville Salt Dome.

Welsh said the additional requirements are based on analysis by the Office of Conservation and expert consultants with the Office’s contracted agent, Shaw Environmental and Infrastructure, of underground conditions in the area above the top of the ground water aquifer, where natural gas pressure has been detected. Though past monitoring of slab-based structures in the area have shown no accumulation of natural gas in homes, Welsh said that all necessary steps must be taken to detect, minimize or prevent any such accumulation from occurring.

“The steps outlined in this directive will give us an added layer of protection in ensuring public safety and move the response effort closer to bringing the lives of the residents of the Bayou Corne area back to normal,” Welsh said. “They are designed to provide three lines of defense – ongoing removal of natural gas from the aquifer and underground in and around the community; use of ventilation as a preventative measure against potential natural gas accumulation in homes; and because we cannot take public safety for granted, constant monitoring for any possible natural gas accumulation in those structures.”

Welsh noted that his order will not alter the ongoing cooperative effort between the Office of Conservation and the state Department of Environmental Quality (DEQ) to run an additional round of in-home testing for methane accumulation in slab-built structures in the area to determine current conditions.

11:50 a.m. Update

Observation Well #2 has been re-perforated and there is pressure present. A flare stack will be installed and we will update accordingly.

Also, we’ve been informed that 3 trees that were standing where the last slough in occurred, have fallen into the sinkhole.

1:30 p.m. Updated Summary/Resident Briefing

An updated situation summary has been posted to:

http://assumptionla.com/bayoucorne/gohsep

**Also, please be advised the a resident briefing will be held next Tuesday, November 13, 2012 at the St. Joseph the Worker Catholic Church at 7:00 p.m. We have been advised that catechism classes take place on Tuesday evenings. Residents, we ask that you refrain from arriving at the hall prior to 6:30 p.m. to avoid traffic issues as parents are picking up their children from classes.

4:40 p.m. DNR Press Release, Methane Testing

NEWS RELEASE

www.dnr.louisiana.gov

Office of Conservation Calls for Cooperative Effort in Methane Testing of Bayou Corne Structures

Conservation-ordered shallow well monitoring network detects natural gas pressure near community at 20-to-40-foot depth

BATON ROUGE – Louisiana Commissioner of Conservation James Welsh today announced that the Office of Conservation will be coordinating with the state Department of Environmental Quality (DEQ) in seeking permission from property owners to do additional monitoring of Bayou Corne community homes to test for the accumulation of methane believed to be connected to the failure of Texas Brine’s cavern.

Although previous in-structure testing done by DEQ experts on the ground showed there were no natural gas accumulations in the structures tested, further testing will be conducted out of an abundance of caution to ensure public safety.

Welsh said the action is being taken in response to analysis and review of data provided by the network of 18 shallow monitoring wells the Office of Conservation instructed its contracted agent, Shaw Environmental and Infrastructure, to install in and around the community. These wells are part of the ongoing overall Office of Conservation response to formation of the nearby sinkhole and ongoing presence of natural gas underground and bubbling to the surface connected to the failure of Texas Brine’s abandoned brine cavern on the western side of the Napoleonville Salt Dome.

That monitoring-well network has detected underground natural gas at low pressure in an area shallower than the primary aquifer, which indicates a need for additional tests to look for potential presence of natural gas in structures built directly on the ground surface. For homes and structures built on supports that make space between the base of the building and the ground surface, natural air flow prevents interior accumulation of natural gas.

“We are asking for property owner cooperation in getting permission to perform systematic testing of as many of the structures built directly on the ground as possible to supplement previous testing indicating that natural gas had not made its way into homes,” Welsh said. “While analysis of the data we have available indicates that the risk of natural gas accumulation in homes is low, we want to have additional testing out of an abundance of caution. We will take no chances when it comes to public safety.”

Welsh said that while the Office of Conservation will continue to take immediate actions as needed to protect public safety, the Office will also continue to hold Texas Brine LLC accountable to meet the requirements of his previously issued orders to develop monitoring systems, install vent wells and take other actions to remediate the effects of the company’s failed brine cavern and assess and abate threats to public safety and the environment.

Welsh said that the Office of Conservation and DEQ had already acted to assess conditions in and below the community to determine what future actions were warranted, with Conservation’s having instructed Shaw E&I to install the initial monitoring-well network and having ordered Texas Brine to continue to install more; and with DEQ having offered in-home testing to Bayou Corne residents who requested it, in addition to the agency’s ongoing air and water testing in the area.

“Previous in-structure testing done by DEQ experts showed there were no natural gas accumulations in the structures they were allowed to test,” Welsh said. “That is encouraging, but we believe that a systematic sweep of as many structures as possible would provide greater certainty of safety.”

Determining whether natural gas is present in structures built directly on ground surface is one step in the process of assessing the potential impact to the community and achieving a return to normalcy for the community. The next step will be based on what is found through the in-structure sweep and ongoing monitoring and analysis of existing and future shallow monitoring-wells.

“We have not slowed in our efforts to fully understand the mechanics of the original failure and ongoing movement of natural gas in order to better direct the actions that give us the best opportunities to resolve the problems safely and as quickly as possible,” Welsh said. “We will continue to make use of the best science and respond based on evaluation of that data, and require the responsible party to take all appropriate actions to rectify the situation.”