Residents getting frustrated with slow pace of sinkhole work

BAYOU CORNE, LA (WAFB) - Emotions ran high at another full house in Pierre Part Tuesday as residents affected by the sinkhole received the latest updates from state and local agencies, as well as officials from Texas-Brine.

The State Department of Natural Resources is asking the company to submit its plan for collecting, interpreting and reporting data on how the underground salt cavern collapsed.

It has been more than five months since gas bubbles were discovered on Bayou Corne and three months since the giant sinkhole forced local and state agencies to issue an evacuation for nearby residents.

Tuesday, another phase in addressing the issue as Texas-Brine is expected to submit a new plan for data collection and interpretation.

The plan, which is supposed to be emailed to the Department of Natural Resources by midnight, will outline a 3-D geo-seismic evaluation of the underground salt cavern to see if there are other areas that could likely collapse.

For some residents, the progress is coming too slowly.

"It just seems urgency is something they could work with. They should work at a faster pace," said one resident.

That pace, according to Texas-Brine, is right on track and the latest phase includes giving the Department of Natural Resources a plan for generating images of the subsurface layout in the area.

The deadline is midnight Tuesday, but a spokesperson from the state says they won't likely be ready to comment until Wednesday.

A spokesperson from the State Department of Natural Resources is demanding Texas-Brine install in-home monitors and more vent wells near the sinkhole site.

The state says data shows the sinkhole is linked to the collapse of a side wall in the cavern.

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