There are traces of a “weathered diesel component” in a water sample taken Jan. 11 from the “foamy area” that occasionally and mysteriously forms in Lake Peigneur, but AGL Resources’ Keith Poston said nothing found in preliminary tests “lead us to believe our facility is the source of the bubbling.”

The diesel, or petroleum hydrocarbon, is possibly from some of the trucks and barges still on the bottom of the lake stemming from the 1980 salt-mine collapse and subsequent whirlpool that sucked down equipment across 70 acres of the lake.

The site of the recent foaming — which some residents say begins with a “bubbling” action that leaps a foot high above the water, though that’s never been photographed or documented — is about a half-mile from where the company’s two underwater natural gas caverns are located.

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The lake is north of Delcambre near the Iberia-Vermilion border. Lake Peigneur area resident Nara Crowley and others have said the bubbling was spotted in the lake in mid-2006. The bubbling turns into a froth that streams for hundreds of feet and lasts for several hours.

AGL, along with the Department of Natural Resources, took samples of the foam. DNR sent its sample to DEQ for testing, DNR spokeswoman Phyllis Darensbourg said Thursday. She said at this point “DEQ has the lead on water sampling from the lake.”

Robert Freeman of DEQ in Lafayette said the results would take several weeks.

“When we know the findings, both agencies will want to make a report. That will be public information,” Darensbourg said.

Sherry Labs in Lafayette and STL-Austin Labs performed the testing under the guidance of Ecology and Environment of Baton Rouge, Poston said.

Poston said both the pH and salinity were within normal ranges. Some “very small amounts” of methylene chloride also was detected, but that’s a fairly common chemical used in various industrial processes such as paint stripping, metal cleaning and pharmaceutical manufacturing.

Crowley said this morning that she has “several concerns” about AGL’s test results.

“Sampling results of water after the bubbling ceased may be inconclusive due to the escaping of gas out of the solution,” she said.

Crowley likened it to a can of soda, when gas escapes an opened can.

“The samples need to be taken while the bubbling is occurring and needs to be in a clean, airtight container,” she said. She also suggesed that to exclude any relationship between the bubbling and the caverns, a sample of the gas stored in the caverns should be tested.

Residents of the Lake Peigneur area have protested AGL’s plans to build two more caverns, citing environmental impact that could harm the lake’s ecosystem. Their protest led DNR to investigate the situation. DNR said it discovered that AGL was late on several lease payments and halted the cavern expansion this past summer.

AGL then sued the state’s Louisiana Mineral Board and the DNR. The company is seeking an injunction and a “declaration that its mineral lease remains in full force.” AGL filed the lawsuit in 19th Judicial District Court on Sept. 6, just eight days before a final permit hearing with the state for the two additional caverns.

This foamy froth formed Jan. 11 after some residents again witnessed a mysterious bubbling that seems to occur every few weeks at Lake Peigneur. AGL operations supervisor Jason Mire said he doesn’t believe the foaming is from the company’s two caverns at the lake. AGL photo