A Louisiana sinkhole opened up and swallowed 100-foot-tall cypress trees in Assumption Parish according to an August 10 CNN report. Now state officials are investigating the cause of this massive sinkhole, which is even being tested for radiation.
Officials believe that perhaps an underground salt mine, mined by Texas Brine Company, may have caused the sinkhole. The hole measure 324 feet in diameter by 50 feet deep. However, one corner is as deep as 422 feet. Wow!
Assumption Parish resident Dennis Landry said of the neighborhood,
"When you have a beautiful home like I have on the bayou and have a little business that I run in the home, it would be very difficult to leave this behind. We kind of feel that if something drastic were to happen, we could jump in a car and get out of here."
Thank goodness Landry's house was not swallowed by the Louisiana sinkhole! However, his business, Cajun Cabins of Bayou Corne, has suffered from the bad news. He said,
"Our beautiful little paradise is in jeopardy."
Unfortunately, the hole is near a well that contains butane, which is highly flammable. If there is a breach of that well as the sinkhole grows, the situation could be devastating.
Now landowners have filed a lawsuit against the Department of Natural Resources and Texas Brine because of the threat to their property. If these groups were to blame, then homeowners certainly deserve an explanation and some compensation for their losses.
Hopefully the cause of the hole is discovered and fixed before more property is damaged or destroyed.
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