THE WINK SINK
WRITTEN BY BILL J. BECKHAM.
TRANSCRIBED OUT OF THE
PUBLISHED IN 1984 USED WITH PERMISSION OF BILL J. BECKHAM & THE WINKLER CO. HISTORICAL SOCIETY
A MAMMOTH CRATER—LATER DUBBED THE WINKLER COUNTY CRATER, THE WINK SINK OR THE KERMIT CRATER DEPENDING ON WHAT PART OF WINKLER COUNTY ONE HAILED FROM – APPEARED ON THE MORNING OF JUNE 3, 1980, APPROXIMATELY FIVE MILES SOUTHWEST OF KERMIT JUST SOUTH OF TEXAS HIGHWAY 115.
“THE WATER WAS BUBBLING AND TWISTING DOWN THERE WITH THE DIRT AS IT FELL IN” DECLARED JUAN GARCIA, THE FIRST PERSON TO VIEW THE CRATER.
GARCIA, AN EMPLOYEE OF HARVARD CONSTRUCTION CO. IN KERMIT, WAS WORKING ON A CONTRACT FOR GULF OIL CORPORATION TO CHECK LEAKS IN A 24 INCH PIPELINE IN THE AREA.
“WE WERE ABOUT 50 FEET AWAY WHEN WATER SPLASHED UP, AND WE SAW IT,” GARCIA EXPLAINED. “I GOT UP TO THE EDGE OF IT AND LOOKED OVER, THEN RAN AND CALLED MY BOSS.”
GARCIA ESTIMATED THE SINKHOLE TO
BE 20 FEET WIDE AND 20 FEET LONG WHEN HE DISCOVERED IT AT
“IT MUST HAVE STARTED THAT MORNING AS FAST AS IT WAS FALLING. IT JUST GREW AND GREW RIGHT IN FRONT OF ME.” GARCIA RECALLED, “I DIDN’T KNOW WHAT TO THINK.”
WITHIN TWO HOURS THE SINKHOLE HAD GROWN TO APPROXIMATELY 100 FEET WIDE AND 120 FEET LONG. BY THIS TIME, IT HAD SWALLOWED A MAJOR PORTION OF THE 24-INCH PIPELINE GARCIA HAD BEEN SENT TO CHECK FOR LEAKS.
BY
RAPID EXPANSION OF THE OBLONG CAVITY HAD CEASED BY THE NEXT MORNING, WHEN ITS LONGEST DIMENSION, WHICH RAN FROM EAST TO WEST WAS ABOUT 360 FEET.
THE SUDDEN FORMATION OF THE SINKHOLE ATTRACTED WIDESPREAD PUBLIC ATTENTION THROUGH BOTH NATIONAL AND LOCAL NEWSMEDIA. IN THE DAYS FOLLOWING THE APPEARANCE OF THE SINKHOLE, THERE WAS MUCH SPECUALTION REGARDING ITS DEVELOPMENT AND THE POSSIBLILTY THAT ADDITIONAL SINKHOLES MIGHT OCCUR.
IN AN OFFICIIAL BUREAU OF
ECONOMIC GEOLOGY REPORT FOR THE
“THE WINK SINK FORMED 2.5 MILES
NORTHEAST OF WINK, SOUTHWESTERN
“A PROBABLE PRECURSOR OF THE
SINKHOLE WAS A SOLUTION CAVITY THAT MIGRATED UPWARD BY SUCCESSIVE ROOF
FAILURES, THEREBY PRODUCING A COLLAPSE CHIMNEY FILLED WITH BRECCIATED
ROCK. DISSOLUTION OF SALT IN THE PERMIAN
THE
“THE WINK SINK LIES DIRECTLY
ABOVE THE PERMIAN CAPITAN REEF, WHICH CONTAINS WATER THAT IS UNSATURATED WITH
RESPECT TO SODIUM CHLORIDE. HYDRAULIC
HEAD OF WATER FROM THE REEF IS HIGHER IN EVELATION OF THE
“COMPOSITION OF WATER IN THE WINK
SINK RESEMBLES THAT OF WATER IN NEARBY WELLS PRODUCING FROM THE QUATERNARY
ALLUVIUM AND FROM THE TRIASSIC
“HENDRICK WELL NUMBER 10-A WAS DRILLED IN 1928 AT THE SITE NOW WITHIN THE CUMFERENCE OF THE SINKHOLE. THE WELL, WHICH INITIALLY PRODUCED ABOUT 80 PERCENT WATER FROM THE PERMIAN TANSILL FORMATION, WAS PLUGGED WITH CEMENT AND ABANDONED IN 1964. THE WELL WAS NOT USED FOR BRINE DISPOSAL. OVER 12 MILLION BARRELS OF SALT WATER PRODUCED FROM THE HENDRICK FIELD WERE DISPOSED OF BY INJECTION INTO THE PERMIAN RUSTLER FORMATION DURING 1961. WATERFLOOD PROJECTS IN THE HENDRICK FIELD BEGAN IN 1963 AND ARE STILL IN PROGRESS.”
“SINKHOLES SIMILAR TO THE WINK
SINK OCCUR IN OTHER AREAS OF
THE
BLOCKS OF EARTH UP TO 30 FEET LONG CONTINUED TO FALL INTO THE HOLE AT IRREGULAR INTERVALS FOR SEVERAL WEEKS AFTER FORMATION OF THE WINK SINK BEGAN. ANNULAR CRACKS THAT SURROUND THE HOLE EXTENDED UP TO 290 FEET FROM THE SOURTHERN EDGE. A LARGE AREA BORDERING THE SOUTH RIM OF THE SINKHOLE SUBSIDED ABOUT 10 FEET RELATIVE TO THE NORT SIDE WITHIN THREE DAYS AFTER THE SINKHOLE BEGAN CAVING IN.
DESPITE THE FORAMATION OF THE MAMMOTH CRATER, THERE WAS LITTLE EFFECT ON OIL FIELD OPERATION IN THE AREA. WORKMEN CUT AND REROUTED A SHELL OIL COMPANY PIPELING SIX INCHES IN DIAMETER THAT CARRIED CRUDE OIL TO STORAGE TANKS 1,000 FEET NORTHEAST OF THE SINKHOLE. THE BRINE PIPELINE ORIGINALLY BEING INSPECTED BY THE HARVARD CONSTRUCTION COMPANY MAINTENANCE CREW WAS BROKEN BY THE EXPANDING CRATER, AND AS A RESULT THE OIL WELLS PRODUCING THE BRINE HAD TO BE SHUT DOWN.
WORKERS FOR PETRO-LEWIS COMPANY,
AND INDEPENDENT OIL COMPANY OPERATING IN THIS AREA OF WINKLER COUNTY, WERE
ATTEMPTING TO CIRCULATE CEMENT BEHIND THE LINER IN THE HENDRICK WELL NUMBER
3-A, A PRODUCING OIL WELL LOCATED ABOUT 500 FEET SOUTH OF THE SINKHOLE, WHEN THE SINKHOLE BEGAN TO FORM. THEY PLUGGED AND ABANDONED THE WELL ON
THE WINK SINK BROUGHT NATION-WIDE
PUBLICITY FOR
AFTER SEVERAL DAYS OF SEARCHING, IT WAS DISCOVERED THAT ATLANTIC-RICHFIELD CO. (ARCO) OWNED THE SURFACE RIGHTS IN THE AREA OF THE SINKHOLE. AS A RESULT, WITHIN A SHORT TIME A SIX-FOOT CHAIN LINK FENCE WAS BUILT AROUND THE CRATER AND ADJOINING LAND TO KEEP CURIOSITY SEEKERS AND AMATEUR PHOTOGRAPHERS A SAFE DISTANCE FROM THE HOLE.
OFFICIALS FROM THE TEXAS
DEPARTMENT OF TRANSPORTATION KEPT A CAREFUL EYE ON THE SINKHOLE FOR SEVERAL
WEEKS, FEARING THAT IT MIGHT ERODE NORTHWARD AND ENDANGER HIGHWAY 115. BUT AFTER A FEW DAYS OF RAPID GROWTH, THE
WINK SINK – LIKE THE OIL FIELD BOOMTOWN FOR WHICH IT WAS NAMED BEGAN TO CALM
DOWN. IT NEVER SERIOUSLY
TODAY THE WINK SINK LIES QUIETLY INSIDE ARCOS’ CHAIN-LINK YARD GROWING LITTLE IF ANY AT ALL. AN OCCASIONAL CURIOUS TOURIST STILL STOPS AND SNEAKS OVER THE FENCE TO SHOOT THOSE CANDID SHOTS FOR THE FOLKS BACK HOME BUT THERE IS LITTLE ACTIVITY AT THE SPOT 2.5 MILES NORTHEAST OF WINK, WHERE THE MAMMOTH CRATER FIRST BEGAN TO GOBBLE UP HUGE AMOUNTS OF EARTH ON THAT HOT JUNE MORNING IN 1980.
THE WINK SINK APPEARS PEACEFUL
ENOUGH WHEN OBSERVED TODAY. BUT THEN SO
DID THAT AREA OF HENDRICK FIELD, WHICH SURROUNDED HENDRICK WELL NO. 10-A EARLY
ON THE MORNING OF