BATON ROUGE, La. (AP) - The state is suing Texas Brine for the environmental damage and massive sinkhole that officials say was caused by the collapse of a salt dome cavern operated by the company.
Gov. Bobby Jindal and Attorney General Buddy Caldwell announced the planned lawsuit Friday. They say the lawsuit also names Occidental Chemical, which owns the property.
The lawsuit comes as Saturday marks the one-year anniversary of when the sinkhole was discovered in Assumption Parish.
An area around Bayou Corne dissolved into liquefied muck, and the sinkhole has since grown to 24 acres. About 350 residents in the tiny community 40 miles from Baton Rouge have no end in sight to their evacuation order because the sinkhole continues to widen.
The state has spent at least $12 million responding to the disaster.