That's kindof like saying "we don't know what caused this grassfire - incidentally, there's a kid over there playing with matches".
-WaV On Thu, Jul 30, 2009 at 7:37 AM, Bill Bentley <ca...@caver.net> wrote: > This story has has been covered by all 3 of the local network news. I > find it most interesting when they say Experts don't know why this happens > and in the finishing sentence of the news story they comment on how it is > near an injection well. > > Bill > > ----- Original Message ----- > *From:* jerryat...@aol.com > *To:* Texascavers@texascavers.com > *Sent:* Thursday, July 30, 2009 1:43 AM > *Subject:* [Texascavers] New sinkhole collapse in west Texas : > > *Giant Sinkhole Collapses Near Denver City > > *Eddie Garcia > CBS 7 News > July 28, 2009 > > Denver City, Texas - A giant geographical phenomenon has opened up just two > miles northeast of Denver City. > > The enormous sink hole opened up just last night and is on Occidental > Permian Inc. property. Company officials would not allow us near the site > but did provide us with aerial photos. It is a sinkhole 70 yards long almost > 70 yards wide and about 50 feet deep. Permian Occidental says all the wells > in the area have been shut-in as a precaution. So far no injuries are being > reported or any impacts outside the immediate vicinity of the hole. Local > and state authorities have been notified and are now working with Occidental > crews. Right now an independent fire and safety company is on location and > the entire area is secured. > http://www.cbs7kosa.com/news/details.asp?ID=14003 > > Video of the sink at: > http://permianbasin360.com/content/fulltext/?cid=47132 > > *State probing new area sinkhole* By Joshua Hull | AVALANCHE-JOURNAL > > *Thursday, July 30, 2009* > Story last updated at 7/30/2009 - 1:31 am > > State officials are investigating what caused a large sinkhole to suddenly > appear earlier this week in an oil field near Denver City. > > The sinkhole, measured at 76 feet by 70 feet and 48 feet deep, was > discovered by a worker late Monday on oil and gas land owned by Occidental > Permian Limited, said Stacie Fowler with the Texas Railroad Commission. > No one was injured when the ground collapsed, and one well of 1,750 at the > field was damaged by the collapse, Fowler said. Some wells in the vicinity > have been temporarily shut down. > > "We make sure more damage doesn't happen as best we can," she said, adding > no cause has yet been determined. > > Sinkholes are a more common occurrence in East Texas and can be caused by > several different factors, said Mike Turco, chief of the Gulf Coast Office > for the U.S. Geological Survey. > > Oil and gas operations are known to cause sinkholes, Turco said, which > might explain the unusual location of the collapse less than a mile east of > Denver City. > > "During normal times, there is a fluid or a substance holding up whatever > is above," he said. "If that is extracted the pressure is reduced and there > can be a surface feature after a collapse." > > Much larger sinkholes appeared in the early 1980s near Wink - about 100 > miles southwest of Denver City - also near oil and gas operations. > > Sinkholes have to be treated with care, Turco said, as each case is > different from the next. While all features share some similarities, there's > no way to tell whether the collapse will expand without further examination. > > "It depends on what the rocks are underneath the sinkhole and what caused > the sinkhole," he said. "Typically, once they express themselves after their > initial expansion they don't get much larger." > > http://lubbockonline.com/stories/073009/loc_472749121.shtml Lubbock > Avalanche-Journal > Giant Denver City sinkhole collapses > > *Posted: Jul 29, 2009 9:26 AM CDT **Wednesday, July 29, 2009 10:26 AM EST* > > DENVER CITY, TX (KCBD) - A giant sinkhole has been discovered just outside > of Denver City, Texas. > > According to Occidental Permian Ltd., at approximately 11:00 p.m. on > Monday, July 27th, the sinkhole was discovered 2 miles northeast of Denver > City, on Occidental property. An independent fire and safety company is on > location and the area is secured. Wells in the area have been shut-in as a > precaution. The sinkhole is approximately 70 yards long, 67 yards wide and > 16 yards deep. Occidental personnel reports that there are no injuries to > employees, and no injuries or other impacts outside the immediate vicinity > around the hole. Oxy has notified the appropriate local and state > authorities, and will continue to cooperate fully with them. NewsChannel 11 > will be following this story and will bring you any updates as they become > available. > > http://www.kcbd.com/Global/story.asp?S=10810491 > > ------------------------------ > Hot Deals at Dell on Popular Laptops perfect for Back to > School<http://pr.atwola.com/promoclk/100126575x1223105306x1201716871/aol?redir=http:%2F%2Faltfarm.mediaplex.com%2Fad%2Fck%2F12309%2D81939%2D1629%2D9> > >
