Elevated levels of radium in the water and tests showing airborne indicators of butane -- the highly explosive fuel stored in a nearby cavern -- are two alarming signs that the environmental catastrophe in the Louisiana town of Bayou Corne is far from over. The disturbing new information comes from both air and water testing at and near the massive and growing sinkhole in the bayou, 70 miles west of New Orleans -- with additional analysis by a well-known expert with whom I've worked on past crises, Marco Kaltofen. The information about radium is buried in a state news release that is poorly written and goes out of its way to downplay the results. The sinkhole -- caused by a failing salt cavern owned by the Texas Brine Co., which collapsed after state and company officials ignored residents' reports of shaking homes, noxious odors and gases bubbling up from the swamps -- has forced local residents to evacuate the area. This week, state officials released the results of samples taken 80 feet under the surface of the growing, slurry-filled pit. Kaltofen, a civil engineer and president of Boston Chemical Data Corp., noted that test results posted by the Louisiana Department of Environmental Quality, ...
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