15 Acre Sinkhole in Louisiana Chews up Homes and Spits out Natural Gas

A community in Assumption Parish, Louisiana, is under threat of being permanently wiped off the face of the earth due to the actions of a salt-mining company working in the area.

In August 2012, an old salt mine that was being used to provide local petrochemical companies with brine, began to collapse, slowly creating a sinkhole that has grown to cover 15 acres.

Hundreds of people have been evacuated from their homes, and most have resigned themselves to the fact that they will never return to their homes.

Not only is the giant sinkhole swallowing houses, but it is also emitting oil, natural gas, and other debris, which has left many fearing it may start to contaminate local waterways.

Related article: This Week in Energy: Why Now is a Great Time to be Getting into Oil Stocks

Texas Brine, the mining company responsible for the disaster, announced on Monday that it has so far managed to agree deals with 44 affected families to buy their doomed homes, and that it is still in negotiations with many more.

Sonny Cranch, a spokesman for Texas Brine, said that "while not every resident chose to participate in the settlement process, Texas Brine has been committed to offering reasonable offers to those residents who decided they wanted to move from the area and voluntarily participated in the settlement process."

Obviously not all are happy with the offers from Texas Brine "wife worked for the last 10 years to get where we are." Jared Breaux, a homeowner, explained that he and his and they didn't feel the offer made to them was enough to leave his home and move his family. They are still in discussions to try and reach an agreement that leaves both parties happy.

Grist.com reported that Governor Booby Jindal, has signed a number of new bills that aim to tighten regulations on mine operators in the area, claiming that "these laws will ensure that companies are acting in good faith and upholding public safety. It's critical that we hold companies accountable when they put communities at risk and these new laws will help achieve that goal."

By. James Burgess of Oilprice.com