RAW VIDEO: Another tree falls victim to giant Louisiana sinkhole
GRAND BAYOU, LA (WAFB) - Less than 12 hours after the giant Louisiana sinkhole in Assumption Parish swallowed a section of land covered in trees, another tree has fallen victim to the slurry.
Work was ceased at the sinkhole site after a burp was reported Wednesday night.
Burps occur when air and gas from deep in the sinkhole bubbles up. It can cause debris to float to the top and, in the past, has caused more trees to be swallowed into the slurry.
Just hours after the burp, the sinkhole swallowed about a dozen trees. Some of the best video showing the destruction the sinkhole is capable of was captured and shared by the Assumption Parish Office of Emergency Preparedness.
Then Thursday morning, around 9 a.m., another video captured one more tree being sucked into the slurry. It was in the same area as the previous slough in.
According to Assumption Parish OEP, the slough in did not disturb Highway 70. Full time monitoring by DOTD continues on Highway 70 and no impact has been seen.
Crews had to halt all operations Wednesday in the area after the increase in seismic activity. The sinkhole, now more than a year old, is roughly 24 acres in size.
The monitoring and alert status has been heightened to Code 3, meaning the seismic activity has elevated to a point similar to what has been seen in past monitoring prior to a sloughing on the shore or movement beneath the sinkhole.
On August 18, about 25 trees were swallowed by the sinkhole in an area measured at 50' x 25'. The previous burp and seismic activity was reported on August 8, 2013.
On August 2, Gov. Bobby Jindal and Attorney General Buddy Caldwell announced the state will be suing Texas Brine for environmental damages caused by the failed Texas Brine cavern.
After a year, residents said they hoped the situation would be resolved. During a meeting, they expressed anger at the way they feel they have been treated. Several residents asked why no state officials were present during the anniversary ceremony.
Unfortunately for these residents, both parish and Texas Brine officials agree that this is far from over. While 3D seismic surveys conducted by Texas Brine seem to indicate that the sinkhole itself is beginning to slow and stabilize, the recovery has focused on a new danger: natural gas gathering underneath a nearby aquifer.
It has been a year since hundreds living near the giant sinkhole were forced from their homes.
Bubbles were spotted in Bayou Corne and Grand Bayou in June 2012. Two months later, the ground opened up and left what is now a 24-acre sinkhole. Residents were evacuated and the most affected residents began receiving weekly checks from Texas-Brine in the amount of $875 per week.
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