A massive sinkhole has opened up in south-eastern Texas in the US,
swallowing up vehicles and oil field equipment.
Posted on 05/08/2008 8:26:14 AM PDT by yankeedame
DAISETTA, Texas -- An isolated field in Liberty County sits several feet lower Wednesday after the ground caved in and left a sinkhole described as "the size of two football fields."
At about 10 a.m., a dozen workers at the Deloach Vacuum salt water disposal company in Daisetta began noticing cracks in the ground. Shortly after that, there was a dramatic collapse creating the sink hole. Since then, the hole has continued to grow in size...
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A massive sinkhole has opened up in south-eastern Texas in the US,
swallowing up vehicles and oil field equipment.
It is not clear what caused the collapse, but the
history of the nearby community of Daisetta as a once-booming oil town may
provide some of the clues.
Officials are investigating whether an old salt dome, in which oil brine
and natural gas are stored underground, was to blame.
The resulting hole is thought to be at
least 600ft (183m) long and 150ft (46m) deep.
A truck, a tractor and telephone poles were swallowed up by the
hole. Vehicles from a nearby main road had to be diverted, but there
were no reports of any injuries.
Most do not. Also, most are very deep and the oil is in the pores of rock, like a hard sponge. Remove the oil and the source rock remains.
Not true!
It’s not like they leave an empty chamber or void. The oil seeps through porous formations. Once removed it’s readily replaced by salt water from the same zone.
A new place to store nuclear waste.
“Will make a great pond..................”
Salt + water + oil producing algae = more oil. :-)
This sort of thing is a recurring phenomenon in Florida such that it barely makes the news when it happens. We also have something we call “the sinking season.”
This sort of thing is a recurring phenomenon in Florida such that it barely makes the news when it happens. We also have something we call “the sinking season.”
Nevermind the missing few billion barrels of oil at 10 cents a barrel. Nothing to do with the hole.
Looks alot like the potholes on I-35 to me.
A sinkhole opened up near a neighbor’s water well a few months ago- this was a pretty big hole, about 15 feet across and probably 20 feet deep at the deepest part, though hard to tell becuase it was like a hole inside the hole and the opening of the deepest part wasn’t too big. Anyway the well company that was called said that happens when you have a bigger pump than what the well needs and you overpump- continuously for a period of time. The liquid (water in this case) is removed rapidly from the space and there is no recovery time for the well to refill. The guy said it is similiar to suctioning a liquid out of a plastic bottle and making it collapse. We don’t really have a problem with sinkholes around here like in some places so it was startling. I don’t know if the same process is responsible for making this sink hole- but just wonder if it might be the same idea on a larger scale or that area is more prone to sinkholes so the hole is much bigger.
“We also have something we call “the sinking season.””
Is that the Heat, Magic or Marlins?
Not to mention the Greedy Evil Oil Companies, Capitalism, Bubba in his Ford F150 with a Gunrack, Rich White People and Wall Street.....
Obsma has the complete list but I couldn't get a hold of him in time to post this...
The government throws enough money down sinkholes already.
Black Gold...
Often if conditions are favorable, water produced with the oil will be reinjected down the hole to a formation that will absorb it.
It's less about preventing subsidence, and more about the economics of hauling away the produced water by truck. Most of this water is nasty salt water. You just can't let it flow on the surface without creating a salt flat, and people don't really like that.
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