DAISETTA, Texas, May 8, 2008
Giant Texas Sinkhole Keeps Growing
Officials Speculate That The Collapse Of An Old Salt Dome Is Behind The Big Hole
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Play CBS Video Video Giant Texas Sinkhole "Caught On Tape": Large field equipment can be seen falling into an enormous sinkhole near Daisetta, Texas. No injuries have been reported.
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A helicopter flies over a massive sinkhole near Daisetta, Texas Wednesday afternoon, May 7, 2008. A large sinkhole swallowed up oil field equipment and some vehicles Wednesday in southeastern Texas and continued to grow. (AP/Houston Chronicle, J. Nielsen)
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Interactive Natural Disasters Discover how Earth is battered from the sky by hurricanes, tornadoes and cyclones as volcanoes and earthquakes rumble from below.
There were no reports of injuries or of any homes being damaged early Thursday.
Investigators with the Texas Railroad Commission were checking pipelines in the area and trying to determine if any regulations have been violated, said agency spokeswoman Ramona Nye.
Officials with Texas Natural Resources and Conservation were monitoring air and water quality. So far, no pollutants have been detected.
"Right now we're not concerned about any kind of explosion or any kind of hazard," said Tom Branch, coordinator of the Liberty County Office of Emergency Management. "We are monitoring some other things around the area to make sure everyone's OK."
Power provider Entergy cut electric lines Wednesday to prevent power from being cut off in the town.
Sunoco, which manufactures petroleum and petrochemical products, secured two 6-inch crude oil pipelines near the sinkhole that had started to leak Wednesday, said Lester Edwards, hazardous materials coordinator for Liberty County.
Television news footage showed a tractor, some oil field equipment and some telephone poles falling into the sinkhole as it grew near Daisetta, which has a population of around 1,000 and is located about 60 miles northeast of Houston.
The sinkhole was believed to have grown to at least 600 feet long and 200 feet deep by Wednesday night.
Farm-to-Market Road 770 was closed to traffic and vehicles were being diverted to FM 834 over concerns the pit could spread to the roadway.
Officials are trying to determine what prompted the sinkhole near the Liberty County community. But its history as a once booming oil town might be to blame.
The ground might have caved in because of the collapse of an old salt dome where oil brine and natural gas are stored underground, officials said. Daisetta sits on a salt dome, one of the most common types of traps for oil.
Sinkholes are rare and often take up to two weeks to stabilize, said Geoffrey Paine, a geologist and geophysicist with the University of Texas.
© MMVIII The Associated Press. All Rights Reserved. This material may not be published, broadcast, rewritten, or redistributed.
Add a Comment See all 33 Comments
- May be the sinkholes are caused by our oil pumping leaving a cavity under the ground. We pump the oil and leave a cavity who knows where and all of-a-sudden you got a hole in the ground because we left an underground chamber empty and then poof. A sink hole. Thank you. Bye.
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- Texas is THE best state so shutup losers
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- Oh, I''m sorry, i thought this story was about Dubya...
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- I always thought all of Texass was a big sink hole. What''s new.
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- But, but, but the surge is working!!!
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- Wow too bad it''s not under dumbazz Bush''s crawfish house! Then he might know what it feels like to lose your home, oh wait he has way to much money NOW to worry, he''ll just have someone rebuild at our expense.
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- Oh the stars at night shine big and bright clap,clap,clap,clap, over that hole in Texas.
I''m sorry, I just couldn''t help myself. hahahaha - Reply to this comment
- Texas is a great state. What state is better? But it has been damaged by a huge influx of illegals. With some imagination the illegal immigration problem could be alleviated by the sink hole.
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- What a metaphor for what Bush has created for this country.
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- To God:
"Oh, Lord, send a great wave. Take us if you must, but TAKE HIM!"
Or a sinkhole will do. More fitting somehow. - Reply to this comment
- Is it near Crawford?? Huh?? Huh?? Is it near Crawford??
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- Giant Texas Sinkhole Keeps Growing
Looks like Texas is getting ready for 1.20.2009... - Reply to this comment
- Heck, we do things big in Texas -- even sink holes. You guys complain about pumping oil out of the ground in Texas and about foreign oil prices then drive, ride a bus or fly where you want to go. If someone doesn''t pump the oil you get to walk everywhere you go, only eat what is grown within walking distance, and only use products that are locally made. Welcome the the 1700s.
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- (From a sink hole, to bashing bush to lesbians.....this shows to the people of the world Americans lose track of subjects and trains of thought..... )
***I agree*** - Reply to this comment
- From a sink hole, to bashing bush to lesbians.....this shows to the people of the world Americans lose track of subjects and trains of thought.....
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- "I didn''t know we had crazy lesbian cults. I want to go."
Posted by hippychicky
i recommend the following good and honest study for more information on the filthy violent nature of the KLK (krazy lesbians kult) which is trying to obtain control of the mormon children:
No More Secrets : Violence in Lesbian Relationships
http://www.amazon.com/No-More-Secrets-Violence-Relationships/dp/0415929466/
"This study of abuse in lesbian relationships looks you in the eye and dares you to turn away. Far from being a prurient study of a fringe group of violent lesbians, this book demands that the queer community at large--afraid of straight disdain --recognize its accountability. No More Secrets illustrates that despite what many lesbian feminists believe, acts of violence are not committed solely by men." - Reply to this comment
- Posted by hippychicky
"Krazy Lesbians Kult (KLK):
A lesbian sect generally considered to be Extremist or False, with it''s followers often living in an unconventional manner under the guidance of one or more Authoritarian, Charismatic leaders. Obsessive, especially faddish devotion to or veneration for a person, principle or thing." - Reply to this comment
- Surely you dont think God would have something to do with that????????
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- The Great Emperor Bush II is concerned about the growing sink hole in Texas.
Suspecting that giant earthworms with teeth like those in the movie "Tremors" may be after him, the Great Emperor has ordered scientists to determine what is causing the sink hole and why it is growing. If they cannot find out, he has demanded that they give him a projection as to how long it will take the sink hole to "swallow up" the entire state of Texas, including his beloved Crawdford ranch and the all-important Great Emperor Bush Library.
Not that he cares one bit for the people of Texas, but he wants to insure that HE has enough time to relocate his ranch (and Library, naturally) to the Bushie compound at Kennebunkport, Maine; as far away from the sink hole and what is left of Texas he can get!!!!
SIG HEIL, BUSH!!!!
sig heil, DEFINITELY MORE OF THE SAME, McCain!!!! - Reply to this comment
- I LOVE TEXAS!!!
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