05/13/2008

The Incredibly Hungry Texas-Sized Sink Hole of Daisetta

Category: Inane Ponderings and Other Happy Horse Crap :

Author: WhosPlayin (10:45 pm)

Click to watch this 250 ft deep, 900 ft long sink hole eat part of Daisetta, TX:

Daisetta sits on a salt dome, a natural formation created below the ground over millions of years where oil brine and natural gas accumulate. Oil drilling in the area, still dotted with working oil derricks, might have weakened the dome and caused it to collapse, Norman said.

But the sinkhole might also be a natural occurrence caused by groundwater leaking into the salt dome and dissolving parts of it.

Don Van Nieuwenhuise, a geosciences professor at the University of Houston, said oil production usually doesn't affect the integrity of a salt dome. He said he thinks the sinkhole is probably related to saltwater waste that is being stored underground in the area. The saltwater is a byproduct of oil production and has to be stored underground so it won't contaminate water supplies and the environment.

"It probably fractured part of the salt dome, and it's leaking out," he said.

(Emphasis ours)

We can't find the precise location of the sinkhole in news reports at this time. If anyone can describe the location, we would appreciate you leaving a comment.

Saltwater injection wells are popping up all over our area here in North Texas due to the production of natural gas in the Barnett Shale. To my knowledge, I don't think any part of our area sits over a salt dome, but I do now wonder what happens if this contaminated water leaks out of the bore hole or the target formation, and somehow undermines the integrity of the bedrock.

I'm sure TXSharon (of Bluedaze) will be all over this soon. She's done plenty of work research on these disposal wells.

Here's an illustration of a typical sinkhole that one might find in a limestone formation: (Click for website)

According to Wikipedia's article on sinkholes, they can often be caused by human activity such as excessive pumping of water from aquifers:

Sinkholes can be human-induced - New sinkholes have been correlated to land-use practices, especially from ground-water pumping and from construction and development practices. Sinkholes can also form when natural water-drainage patterns are changed and new water-diversion systems are developed. Some sinkholes form when the land surface is changed, such as when industrial and runoff-storage ponds are created. The substantial weight of the new material can trigger an underground collapse of supporting material, thus causing a sinkhole.

Of course, it will be months before geologists know for sure what has caused the collapse in Daisetta. Geology is fascinating to me, so I hope to hear the final verdict.

In unrelated news, I hear that you can buy brand-spanking-new beach-front property in Daisetta dirt cheap. Just bring your own dirt, because you'll need it.

Another video:

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Poster	Thread
WhosPlayin	Posted: 2008/5/15 22:15 Updated: 2008/5/15 22:15
Webmaster Joined: 2004/6/4 From: Lewisville, TX Posts: 811	Injection well was exceeding licensed disposal via the Beaumont Enterprise: Ramona Nye, a spokesperson for the agency that regulates oil and gas drilling in Texas, said DeLoach Vacuum Disposal Co. was permitted to inject 90,000 barrels of salt water into its injection wells each month. State officials reviewed the company's records after the sinkhole formed and discovered that at times it had been injecting up to 192,000 barrels of briny water, which is a byproduct of oil exploration. That's interesting. I wonder why the RRC had set a disposal limit? Could it be that there's only a certain amount that a well could reasonably handle without leaking out of its correct disposal pathway? Seriously, I'm asking...

Poster	Thread
WhosPlayin	Posted: 2008/5/19 13:56 Updated: 2008/5/19 13:56
Webmaster Joined: 2004/6/4 From: Lewisville, TX Posts: 811	Wall Street Journal on the Sinkhole Ben Casselmann of The Wall Street Journal has an article in today's Journal: Texas Sinkhole puts Spotlight on Oil and Gas Drilling. Here's a quote: "State regulators haven't yet decided what caused the sinkhole. But Donald Van Nieuwenhuise, director of the petroleum geosciences program at the University of Houston, believes the most likely cause is that waste water eroded an underground structure called a salt dome, a deposit of compressed salt, and caused the collapse. Critics have jumped on the Daisetta incident as evidence of the risks of underground disposal. In recent years, oil and gas production has moved closer to urban areas, especially around Fort Worth -- where a natural-gas formation known as the Barnett Shale has led to drilling at the airport, on college campuses and in residential neighborhoods. Fort Worth has banned saltwater disposal wells in the city limits, but they exist in surrounding counties." Hat tip to txsharon for beating me to this link

Poster	Thread
WhosPlayin	Posted: 2008/5/21 23:44 Updated: 2008/5/21 23:44
Webmaster Joined: 2004/6/4 From: Lewisville, TX Posts: 811	Just keeps getting worse... KHOU in Houston has more of the story on what happened in Daisetta. DAISETTA, Texas -- Volunteer firefighter Lynn Fregia is speaking out about what happened on the day part of Daisetta collapsed into a sinkhole in Liberty County. He said salt water shot out of the ground and killed trees, grass and pasture land. A number of witnesses tell 11 News that the ordeal started the same day as the sinkhole... (emphasis mine) Fregia was talking about an old abandoned well on the property of Daisetta mayor Lynn Wells. In the video, they note that the Railroad Commission has asked nearby well owners to "voluntarily" shut in their wells. Nice. Do they need to be shut in or not? If yes, how about shut them down or go to jail. If no, why ask?