Breaking News: La. sinkhole Code 3 Alert issued

After ongoing seismic activity throughout this week, all work inside and around Louisiana's giant sinkhole has stopped with the Office of Conservation, in consultation with Assumption Parish Incident Command, advising the public Friday at 11:45 A.M. that Oxy 3/sinkhole monitoring alert status has been raised to Code 3.

"The Office of Conservation, in consultation with Assumption Parish Incident Command, is advising the public that the Oxy 3/sinkhole monitoring alert status has been raised to Code 3 – requiring all work inside and around the sinkhole to cease until further notice," Assumption Parish officials announced.

In the area of the 10-acre sinkhole, the heightened level of quake activity is ongoing, according to the University of Memphis USGS helicorder graphs. (See image above.)

"Seismic monitoring has detected elevated subsurface activity in the area around the sinkhole and Oxy 3 area indicative of fluid and gas movement below the sinkhole, and water movement in the sinkhole has been observed, along with increased bubbling along the western side of the sinkhole.

"The seismic activity is limited to the Oxy 3/sinkhole area, showing no indication of impact to the Oxy 1 area," the officials have said.

Oxy 1 is Houston-based Texas Brine LLC's second concerning cavern in the collapsing salt dome.

"Monitoring is constantly ongoing in the area and Conservation will advise the public of significant changes in subsurface conditions."

Advertisement

, Louisiana Sinkhole Examiner

Author, columnist and rights defender Deborah Dupré holds American and Australian science and education graduate degrees plus thirty years human rights, environmental and peace activism. Ms. Dupré has led Indigenous Pacific Islander and Australian Aborigine research; has consulted for the UN and...

Today's top buzz...