ENROLLED
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Regular Session, 2014
HOUSE CONCURRENT RESOLUTI ON NO. 54
BY REPRESENTATIVE ST. GERMAIN
A CONCURRENT RESOLUTI ON
To urge and request the office of conservation to study the effect of implementing certain
requirements for operators of salt dome caverns.
WHEREAS, there are currently twenty-eight salt domes in the state of Louisiana
with permitted activities of brine production and storage cavern formation and operation
with twenty-six of those salt domes located in South Louisiana; and
WHEREAS, prior to August 2012, most residents of Louisiana had no idea whether
or not they were living or working near a salt dome or if any of the salt domes located near
their homes or jobs were being used for brine production or for storage of oil or gas or
produced water or other materials associated with oil and gas production in Louisiana; and
WHEREAS, on August 3, 2012, after many months of unexplained bubbling in and
along the bayou, a sink hole unexpectedly opened up in the swamps near Bayou Corne in
Assumption Parish, calling the attention of the entire country to the possibility of a salt dome
cavern collapse; and
WHEREAS, after the collapse of the cavern located in the Napoleonville salt dome,
more than three hundred people were evacuated from one hundred fifty homes in the Bayou
Corne community along LA Highway 70 due to the presence of methane, hydrogen sulfide,
and other toxic gases associated with the production and exploration of hydrocarbons; and
WHEREAS, in response to the disaster in Bayou Corne, the state office of
conservation and the Legislature of Louisiana proposed and implemented reporting and
safety measures designed to minimize the possibility of such an event reoccurring or
occurring elsewhere in the state and to ensure public awareness and knowledge of the
location of salt domes being used for brine production and for the storage of materials
related to oil and gas exploration and production; and ENROLLEDHCR NO. 54
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WHEREAS, there is still some concern, particularly among the still-evacuated
residents of Bayou Corne, that not enough has been done to protect the public from similar
fates and those residents are still hoping that the office of conservation will implement
tighter restrictions on the use of salt domes for brine production and for storage, including
such requirements as public disclosure of such caverns by a sign located at the site of the
cavern or facility; an expanded buffer zone of five hundred feet surrounding the facility;
scheduling public meetings at the request of twenty or more citizens residing within two
thousand feet of a facility; submission by the owner of the facility to the office of
conservation of a security plan for response to acts of terrorism, natural disasters, and
accidents or equipment malfunctions; and requirements for bonds and insurance by the
owners and operators of such facilities at sufficient levels to secure the interests of the
businesses and residents in the area around such facilities.
THEREFORE, BE IT RESOLVED that the Legislature of Louisiana does hereby
urge and request the office of conservation to study the potential effect of implementing the
above-listed requirements for operators of salt dome caverns and the benefit to be gained
from the implementation of such requirements.
BE IT FURTHER RESOLVED that the office of conservation report their findings
to the House Committee on Natural Resources and Environment and the Senate Committee
on Natural Resources no later than March 1, 2015.
BE IT FURTHER RESOLVED that a copy of this Resolution be forwarded to the
commissioner of the office of conservation.
SPEAKER OF THE HOUSE OF REPRESENTATI VES
PRESIDENT OF THE SENATE