 In our particular spot, it was a place that's rare that if you forgot to lock your door at night, it wasn't that big of a deal. If you didn't, which I didn't lock my car doors when I got there. If I wanted to, I could have left the keys in it. Neighbors looking out, watching, was calm, quiet. And I mean what else? The company called Texas Brine, which is the company that has been mining this area, that sinkhole sits over a salt dome and it's believed that there's a cavern in there that has collapsed. The swap went from this to this, a sinkhole the size of 20 football fields. Officials here declared a code three alert, which is the highest form of readiness after the sinkhole started bubbling, swirling and swallowing more trees. A year ago, there was seismic activity in this area, which is odd. We don't have earthquakes in South Louisiana. We traded hurricanes for earthquakes. We have plenty of hurricanes. We don't have earthquakes. So when there was seismic activity in the bayou, people started to get worried. Back on May 12, 2012, my wife and I, we took the boat out one afternoon, just taking a little leisurely ride that something we just often do just to relax, go down the bayou and take a ride. We went about a half a mile down the bayou. And when I got to the pipeline crossing where there are three known pipelines that cross, I noticed some unusual bubbling. At first I passed it up. Then I turned it around. I went back to look again. I said, no, this doesn't look right. One morning the bubbles appeared. No one really knew what it was that was causing these bubbles in the bayous nearby. And a lot of investigation took place. And then on August 3, 2012, our employees came to work and looked out and the swamp had disappeared. A state of emergency was declared and evacuation order was issued, et cetera, et cetera. If you look out there about 40 feet, that bubbling spot, that is natural gas bubbling up through the water. That is methane gas that's coming up. Your main concern with methane is it is highly flammable. And if you get a big concentration of it, you get an explosion. You hear of, in cities, you hear of gas explosions where somebody had a leak they didn't know about or left the stove on or whatever it was, gets a spark while gas has been blowing and you lose the whole city block. That's the similar concern we have here, that this gas could build up in a back room, in a closet, underneath a house, in enough of a concentration to wear a spark. Somebody flipping a light switch, somebody static discharge, whatever, could set off an explosion. You lose a house, you lose several houses and you lose a life. To this point, we've had no injuries, we've had no deaths associated with this and we really, really want to keep it that way. We currently have air monitoring equipment that we had in place early in this event. That air monitoring equipment actually transmits to the command post here. It has over 300 instruments that go here to the command post. Typically, you get here about 7.30, 8 o'clock in the morning. After going through the emails, I typically make an initial round around the sinkhole and the community. The danger is with methane, so it's LEL, lower explosive limit. This is one of the flares. This flare is gathering natural gas that is being removed through our vent wells at that depth of about 150 feet into the aquifer. The gas is flowing up through the well, is being collected at several different sites, and then it's all being channeled into this single flare. That's one of the processes we're using to remove the gas from the aquifer. We've got seismic monitoring in the salt at surface, in the area above the salt to determine, monitor, I guess, the ongoing stability of the dome itself. So far, we're catching seismic movement. We've got some activity follow on from the fact that dome collapsed and that changes the weights and the rock stresses all around there. That's what you expect to happen after you see a sudden event like that. While it was a manmade action that started this, it's geology and natural forces that are driving, that are making everything happen for now, and geology happens slow. We have nothing to hide. This event took place. We own this sinkhole. It's on our property. We are responding to the best of our ability. There's not a file cabinet back at the offices, what to do in case there's a sinkhole. This is a unique phenomenon. It's being studied by scientists all over the world. It's never happened anywhere else. Yes, we know that this sinkhole is connected to our brine cavern. It's on our property. The unanswered question is what caused the actual breach? Whenever the incident first happened with the sinkhole, they finally came out and said that it was a mandatory evacuation. For me, mandatory means something you have to do, so I did it. We didn't think it would go on for very long. I thought it would be just maybe a week or two. I didn't really ever understand completely what had happened at first. Mandatory evacuation is established in law. It's called the Disaster Act in Louisiana. Mandatory evacuation basically means that the risk is present, and everyone should heed that risk because it is indeed present, but if you do not, you're taking that risk upon yourself. The authorities are telling them it's not safe to live there. And so if it's not safe to live there, and they can't live there because of the sinkhole and because of the gas coming from the sinkhole, then these people have absolutely suffered damages. And they're saying that not only is it not safe now, but we don't know when it will be safe. And we don't know if in three years you can move back. We don't know if in five years we can move back. The latest I heard was that they think that in three to five years it will stop moving. Stop moving doesn't mean we don't even know what it's going to look like in three to five years. I just want to ask for everybody's prayers because a lot of us are in not, we're not in good condition here. Paradise is not lost yet. Right now, the sinkhole, the water, the contaminated water, which is salt water, brine, hydrocarbons, it is contained by a levee, it is contained by a berm. If you go right on the outside of the sinkhole, the swamp right there is still pristine. I mean, you see fish, you see alligators, you see birds, you see wildlife. Bayou Corn itself still remains a very beautiful place, I mean, as you can see right here. So all is not lost, as some people would have you believe. It's a horrible thing. Bayou Corn will never be what it was. I know this. Don't get me wrong, we have a serious problem. And the area that's within the levee of the sinkhole, that area is pretty much lost forever. You know, those cypress trees will never come back. But the entire area is not gone. They're still hanging in.
 In our particular spot, it was a place that's rare that if you forgot to lock your door
 at night, it wasn't that big of a deal.
 If you didn't, which I didn't lock my car doors when I got there.
 If I wanted to, I could have left the keys in it.
 Neighbors looking out, watching, was calm, quiet.
 And I mean what else?
 The company called Texas Brine, which is the company that has been mining this area, that
 sinkhole sits over a salt dome and it's believed that there's a cavern in there that has collapsed.
 The swap went from this to this, a sinkhole the size of 20 football fields.
 Officials here declared a code three alert, which is the highest form of readiness after
 the sinkhole started bubbling, swirling and swallowing more trees.
 A year ago, there was seismic activity in this area, which is odd.
 We don't have earthquakes in South Louisiana.
 We traded hurricanes for earthquakes.
 We have plenty of hurricanes.
 We don't have earthquakes.
 So when there was seismic activity in the bayou, people started to get worried.
 Back on May 12, 2012, my wife and I, we took the boat out one afternoon, just taking a
 little leisurely ride that something we just often do just to relax, go down the bayou
 and take a ride.
 We went about a half a mile down the bayou.
 And when I got to the pipeline crossing where there are three known pipelines that cross,
 I noticed some unusual bubbling.
 At first I passed it up.
 Then I turned it around.
 I went back to look again.
 I said, no, this doesn't look right.
 One morning the bubbles appeared.
 No one really knew what it was that was causing these bubbles in the bayous nearby.
 And a lot of investigation took place.
 And then on August 3, 2012, our employees came to work and looked out and the swamp
 had disappeared.
 A state of emergency was declared and evacuation order was issued, et cetera, et cetera.
 If you look out there about 40 feet, that bubbling spot, that is natural gas bubbling
 up through the water.
 That is methane gas that's coming up.
 Your main concern with methane is it is highly flammable.
 And if you get a big concentration of it, you get an explosion.
 You hear of, in cities, you hear of gas explosions where somebody had a leak they didn't know
 about or left the stove on or whatever it was, gets a spark while gas has been blowing
 and you lose the whole city block.
 That's the similar concern we have here, that this gas could build up in a back room, in
 a closet, underneath a house, in enough of a concentration to wear a spark.
 Somebody flipping a light switch, somebody static discharge, whatever, could set off
 an explosion.
 You lose a house, you lose several houses and you lose a life.
 To this point, we've had no injuries, we've had no deaths associated with this and we
 really, really want to keep it that way.
 We currently have air monitoring equipment that we had in place early in this event.
 That air monitoring equipment actually transmits to the command post here.
 It has over 300 instruments that go here to the command post.
 Typically, you get here about 7.30, 8 o'clock in the morning.
 After going through the emails, I typically make an initial round around the sinkhole
 and the community.
 The danger is with methane, so it's LEL, lower explosive limit.
 This is one of the flares.
 This flare is gathering natural gas that is being removed through our vent wells at that
 depth of about 150 feet into the aquifer.
 The gas is flowing up through the well, is being collected at several different sites,
 and then it's all being channeled into this single flare.
 That's one of the processes we're using to remove the gas from the aquifer.
 We've got seismic monitoring in the salt at surface, in the area above the salt to
 determine, monitor, I guess, the ongoing stability of the dome itself.
 So far, we're catching seismic movement.
 We've got some activity follow on from the fact that dome collapsed and that changes
 the weights and the rock stresses all around there.
 That's what you expect to happen after you see a sudden event like that.
 While it was a manmade action that started this, it's geology and natural forces that
 are driving, that are making everything happen for now, and geology happens slow.
 We have nothing to hide.
 This event took place.
 We own this sinkhole.
 It's on our property.
 We are responding to the best of our ability.
 There's not a file cabinet back at the offices, what to do in case there's a sinkhole.
 This is a unique phenomenon.
 It's being studied by scientists all over the world.
 It's never happened anywhere else.
 Yes, we know that this sinkhole is connected to our brine cavern.
 It's on our property.
 The unanswered question is what caused the actual breach?
 Whenever the incident first happened with the sinkhole, they finally came out and said
 that it was a mandatory evacuation.
 For me, mandatory means something you have to do, so I did it.
 We didn't think it would go on for very long.
 I thought it would be just maybe a week or two.
 I didn't really ever understand completely what had happened at first.
 Mandatory evacuation is established in law.
 It's called the Disaster Act in Louisiana.
 Mandatory evacuation basically means that the risk is present, and everyone should heed
 that risk because it is indeed present, but if you do not, you're taking that risk upon
 yourself.
 The authorities are telling them it's not safe to live there.
 And so if it's not safe to live there, and they can't live there because of the sinkhole
 and because of the gas coming from the sinkhole, then these people have absolutely suffered
 damages.
 And they're saying that not only is it not safe now, but we don't know when it will be
 safe.
 And we don't know if in three years you can move back.
 We don't know if in five years we can move back.
 The latest I heard was that they think that in three to five years it will stop moving.
 Stop moving doesn't mean we don't even know what it's going to look like in three to five
 years.
 I just want to ask for everybody's prayers because a lot of us are in not, we're not
 in good condition here.
 Paradise is not lost yet.
 Right now, the sinkhole, the water, the contaminated water, which is salt water, brine, hydrocarbons,
 it is contained by a levee, it is contained by a berm.
 If you go right on the outside of the sinkhole, the swamp right there is still pristine.
 I mean, you see fish, you see alligators, you see birds, you see wildlife.
 Bayou Corn itself still remains a very beautiful place, I mean, as you can see right here.
 So all is not lost, as some people would have you believe.
 It's a horrible thing.
 Bayou Corn will never be what it was.
 I know this.
 Don't get me wrong, we have a serious problem.
 And the area that's within the levee of the sinkhole, that area is pretty much lost forever.
 You know, those cypress trees will never come back.
 But the entire area is not gone.
 They're still hanging in.