Residents around Bayou Corne in southern Louisiana had been reporting bubbles in the water and tremors that couldn’t be explained for weeks when a wooded section of swamp suddenly collapsed on August 3, 2012. A slurry-filled depression appeared where trees had stood, and the newly formed sinkhole began pulling water and surrounding ground toward it. Louisiana's Department of Energy and Natural Resources records show that state and federal agencies were investigating unexplained bubbling in Bayou Corne and nearby Grand Bayou during June and July 2012. On August 3, an area of wooded swamp began to subside, which prompted the state's commissioner of conservation to declare an emergency.
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