Soil Sample Testing Results From The Bayou Corne Sinkhole

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A thick layer of crude oil covers the Bayou Corne sinkhole. October 11, 2012.

Early this summer LEAN acquired a sample of soil from around the Bayou Corne sink hole and sent it to Marco Kaltofen at Boston Chemical Data Corp. and Worcester Polytechnic Institute. His team at Worcester Polytechnic Institute previously analyzed many samples related to the BP oil spill. While gearing up for this new challenge they had a commercial laboratory test the Bayou Corne soil sample.

Early this summer LEAN acquired a sample of soil from around the Bayou Corne sink hole and sent it to Marco Kaltofen at Boston Chemical Data Corp. and Worcester Polytechnic Institute. His team at Worcester Polytechnic Institute previously analyzed many samples related to the BP oil spill. While gearing up for this new challenge they had a commercial laboratory test the Bayou Corne soil sample.
 
The soil (more like sludge) collected from outside the sinkhole turned out to be 30.5 % petroleum hydrocarbons. Many of these hydrocarbons are much lighter than the ones we have found from the BP oil spill. That means that these chemicals are more likely to get into the air. There were also hundreds of parts per million of heavy hydrocarbons, including toxic polynuclear aromatic hydrocarbons.

Crude oil and oil containment boom floats on the Bayou Corne sinkhole. January 27, 2013
Crude oil and oil containment boom floats on the Bayou Corne sinkhole. January 27, 2013.

These data tell us that there are light hydrocarbons getting into the local atmosphere, and there are also heavy hydrocarbons that can persist for years in the water, soils and sediments around Bayou Corne. The total amounts of hydrocarbons found were far in excess of Louisiana’s Risk Evaluation / Corrective Action Program standards.

Oil sheen visible on the water inside of the containment berm around the Bayou Corne sinkhole and oil containment boom outside of the containment berm as workers repair a section that had recently failed. June 21, 2013.
Oil sheen visible on the water inside of the containment berm around the Bayou Corne sinkhole and oil containment boom outside of the containment berm as workers repair a section that had recently failed. June 21, 2013.

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