Bayou Corne and Grand Bayou
Bayou Corne and Grand Bayou are both in Assumption Parish. Residents hoping to take full advantage of the swampland settled the area. As of 2013, there were 150 residents in Bayou Corne (Newsweek 2013).
Beneath Bayou Corne lies the Napoleonville Salt Dome which companies, like Texas Brine and Occidental Chemical Company have used to store propane, butane, and natural gas. The brine from the dome is used to make chlorine, sodium hydroxide, and other petrochemical products (New York Times/Dallas Morning News 2013). In 2003, a gas leak from a cracked salt cavern caused the residents of Grand Bayou to evacuate for 52 days. The residents were eventually bought out by Gulf South (GardeVoirCi). The homes have been demolished.
On August 3, 2012 drilling activities by Texas Brine caused a salt dome to collapse and a sinkhole to form at Bayou Corne. Starting out at 325 feet across, the sinkhole grew to be 25 acres in a year. The disruption of the earth also caused large quantities of natural gas to migrate to the surface and be released over a wide area. The threat of natural gas entering the homes in Bayou Corne and continued settling of the partially collapsed dome resulted in a multi-year evacuation of the town and a drawn-out buyout process for most residents (Newsweek 2013).
The mandatory evacuation order of Bayou Corne was not lifted until 2016. In 2018, a judge ruled that the fault for the sinkhole was with Texas Brine, Occidental Chemical, and Vulcan Minerals (The Advocate 2018). As of 2019, 140 residents have been bought out (NOLA 2019). 2020 census data reports that there are a total of 32 residents in Bayou Corne (Census Date 2020). Some residents of Grand Bayou had relocated to Bayou Corne only to be displaced again.
