Officials Fine Texas Brine $100,000 Over Sinkhole

BATON ROUGE, La. (AP) — Louisiana officials have fined Texas Brine $100,000 over the company's failure to follow state orders on a giant Assumption Parish sinkhole.

State Conservation Commissioner James Welsh announced the fine Saturday.

He says that the company hasn't complied with provisions of a Nov. 12 order he made meant to speed work at the 8-acre sinkhole, which began to develop when a Texas Brine salt cavern failed in August.

Residents of 150 Bayou Corne-area homes were forced to evacuate in August because natural gas was leaking into the underground water supply.

The fine comes days after the company shut down one of its vent wells because it detected poisonous hydrogen sulfide gas.

Welsh is demanding immediate payment of the civil fine and immediate compliance with his order.