On August 3, 2012, a sinkhole the size of three football fields (approximately 4 acres) appeared overnight in Louisiana's Bayou Corne, swallowing countless 100-foot tall cypress trees. It was the result of an industrial "accident." Four years later the 180-foot deep sinkhole has displaced scores of residents and engulfed 35 acres. And it hasn't stopped growing. Victoria Greene is producing a feature documentary about it.

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This update is the 30th article in this Opednews series about the Bayou Corne sinkhole.

BACKGROUND: In Spring of 2012, Louisiana's Corne and Grand Bayou residents noticed strange bubbling in the bayou for many weeks, and they reported smelling burnt diesel fuel and sulfur. Suddenly a sinkhole estimated to be the size of two or three football fields appeared on Aug. 3, swallowing scores of 100-foot tall cypress trees. The sinkhole resulted from the failure of Texas Brine Company's abandoned underground brine cavern. The Department of Natural Resources issued a Declaration of Emergency on Aug. 6, and 150 families were evacuated.

For maps, diagrams and additional information, please see previous installments in this series, listed at the end of this article.

On August 3, 2012, a sinkhole the size of three football fields (approximately 4 acres) appeared overnight in Louisiana's Bayou Corne, swallowing countless 100-foot tall cypress trees. It was the result of an industrial "accident." Four years later the 180-foot deep sinkhole has displaced scores of residents and engulfed 35 acres. And it hasn't stopped growing.

Victoria Greene is producing and directing a feature documentary film about the sinkhole and its wide-ranging effects, entitled, "Forgotten Bayou."

The footage has been filmed, and Greene and her crew will be progressing to post-production activities including music, final sound editing, color, animation, graphics "and other finishing touches that will make this film amazing" as soon as their Kickstarter fundraising campaign is finished on Tue, July 26, 2016.

"Forgotten Bayou" trailer:

Greene has a 20-year background with Louisiana Public Broadcasting She notes, "Nearly four years later, the mandatory evacuation order remains in effect and to date, only a handful of families still live in Bayou Corne with the sinkhole as their new permanent neighbor. "

The documentary presents the story of a devastating industrial accident. Could it have been prevented with more industry regulation? Educating the citizenry is the first step in requiring responsible behavior from corporations.

Bayou Corne is located in Louisiana's Assumption Parish, about 60 miles from New Orleans and 40 miles from Baton Rouge.

At the time of this posting, the Kickstarter project has raised $13,300 of the $14,500 goal, with five days left to reach the goal. They must meet their goal in order to keep any of the funds.

Forgotten Bayou info: website, Facebook page.

Upcoming event, August 10:

Along with NOVAC, a non-profit and fiscal sponsor of Forgotten Bayou, Victoria is hosting an event commemorating the Sinkhole's 4 year anniversary. Tickets are $40 and available thru Kickstarter.

*Wednesday, August 10th 6-10pm

*Celtic Studios 10000 Celtic Drive, Baton Rouge

Includes food, live entertainment, silent auction and more. Plus screening of award winning "Monster in the Bayou" a 2016 short film directed by Victoria about the Sinkhole, along with other Louisiana short films.

Authors Website: http://www.OceanViewArts.com

Authors Bio:

Meryl Ann Butler is an artist, author, educator and OpedNews Managing Editor who has been actively engaged in utilizing the arts as stepping-stones toward joy-filled wellbeing since she was a hippie. She began writing for OpEdNews in Feb, 2004. She became a Senior Editor in August 2012 and Managing Editor in January, 2013. In June, 2015, the combined views on her articles, diaries and quick link contributions topped one million. She was particularly happy that her article about Bree Newsome removing the Confederate flag was the one that put her past the million mark.

Her art in a wide variety of media can be seen on her YouTube video, "Visionary Artist Meryl Ann Butler on Creativity and Joy" at http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=UcGs2r_66QE

A NYC native, her response to 9-11 was to pen an invitation to healing through creativity, entitled, "90-Minute Quilts: 15+ Projects You Can Stitch in an Afternoon" (Krause 2006), which is a bestseller in the craft field. The sequel, MORE 90-Minute Quilts: 20+ Quick and Easy Projects With Triangles and Squares was released in April, 2011. Her popular video, How to Stitch a Quilt in 90 Minutes with Meryl Ann Butler can be seen at http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=PrShGOQaJQ8

She has been active in a number of international, arts-related projects as a citizen diplomat, and was arts advisor to Baltimore's CIUSSR (Center for Improving US-Soviet Relations), 1987-89. She made two trips to the former USSR in 1987 and 1988 to speak to artists, craftpeople and fashion designers on the topic of utilizing the arts as a tool for global wellbeing. She created the historical "First US-Soviet Children's Peace Quilt Exchange Project" in 1987-88, which was the first time a reciprocal quilt was given to the US from the former USSR.

Her artwork is in collections across the globe.

Meryl Ann is a founding member of The Labyrinth Society and has been building labyrinths since 1992. She publishes an annual article about the topic on OpEdNews on World Labyrinth Day, the first Saturday in May.

OpEdNews Senior Editor Joan Brunwasser interviewed Meryl Ann in "Beyond Surviving: How to Thrive in Challenging Times" at https://www.opednews.com/articles/Beyond-Surviving--How-to-by-Joan-Brunwasser-Anxiety_Appreciation_Coronavirus_Creativity-200318-988.html

Find out more about Meryl Ann's artistic life in "OEN Managing Ed, Meryl Ann Butler, Featured on the Other Side of the Byline" at https://www.opednews.com/Quicklink/OEN-Managing-Ed-Meryl-Ann-in-Life_Arts-Artistic_Artists_Quilt-170917-615.html

On Feb 11, 2017, Senior Editor Joan Brunwasser interviewed Meryl Ann in Pink Power: Sister March, Norfolk, VA at http://www.opednews.com/articles/Pink-Power-Sister-March--by-Joan-Brunwasser-Pussy-Hats-170212-681.html

"Creativity and Healing: The Work of Meryl Ann Butler" by Burl Hall is at
http://www.opednews.com/articles/Creativity-and-Healing--T-by-Burl-Hall-130414-18.html

Burl and Merry Hall interviewed Meryl Ann on their BlogTalk radio show, "Envision This," at http://www.blogtalkradio.com/envision-this/2013/04/11/meryl-ann-butler-art-as-a-medicine-for-the-soul

Archived articles www.opednews.com/author/author1820.html
Older archived articles, from before May 2005 are here.