Crosstex Moving Pipeline Near Huge Louisiana Sinkhole

September 4, 2012

Crosstex Energy LP of Dallas will reroute its 36-inch natural gas pipeline away from a sinkhole in south Louisiana.

The project will cost $20 million to $25 million and take about a year. the company told The Advocate.

It has had to close part of the pipeline and find other natural gas supplies for its customers, at a cost of $250,000 to $300,000 a month, since the sinkhole was discovered Aug. 3 in Assumption Parish near Bayou Corne.

Crosstex is looking into recovering losses from “responsible parties and insurance coverage.” Spokeswoman Jill McMillan says Crosstex won’t provide more details about those plans. “We would prefer not to discuss details of pending legal matters,” she said.

Crosstex said it plans to write off its investment in the section of the pipeline affected by the sinkhole, a non-cash charge estimated at less than $500,000. The section of pipeline was bent 16 feet down and 15 feet toward the mucky sinkhole.

The Louisiana Department of Natural Resources has said a failed brine cavern in the Napoleonville Salt Dome may have caused the sinkhole. It has ordered Houston-based Texas Brine Co. LLC to drill into into the cavern to find out, if possible, whether that is the case.

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