The Lake Peigneur salt mine catastrophe is an event you may never have heard of if you’re not from south Louisiana. Today is the 42nd anniversary of the drilling accident that occurred on Nov 20, 1980. It forever changed this area, the lake, and its ecosystem.
Originally, this lake was a shallow freshwater lake about 10 foot deep covering 1,300 acres. Texaco was drilling for oil and accidentally pierced the Diamond Crystal salt mine located underneath the lake where salt was first mined there in 1919.
Aftermath of the salt mine drilling accident
After the breach of the salt mine under Lake Peigneur, a whirlpool formed. The vortex sucked down the drilling platform, ten barges, a tugboat, 65 acres of surrounding land, trees, homes and a botanical garden.
As billions of gallons of water drained into the mine, the flow of the canal emptying into the lake was completely reversed. This caused salt water from the Gulf of Mexico to now flow into what had become a dry lakebed. As the lakebed refilled with saltwater, the lake no longer remains freshwater.
For a few days, this backflow of water created the tallest waterfall in the history of Louisiana (164 ft. tall). Water flowing into the caverns of the mine caused air to compress and created 400-foot geysers. Days after the disaster, nine of the sunken barges popped out of the whirlpool and refloated on the lake’s surface.
Miraculously, all 55 employees in the mine at the time of the accident escaped and there were no fatalities. The catastrophe permanently shut down the mine.
Lake Peigneur is now the deepest lake in Louisiana with a maximum depth of 200 feet because of the accident. When looking out over the calm lake today, a lone chimney remains where a house once stood.
To learn more about the accident, there’s a YouTube video here with more details.
More Sources about the Lake Peigneur Salt Mine Drilling Accident
- The Jefferson Island Mine Inundation (U.S. Department of Labor Mine Safety and Health Administration)
- Lake Peigneur – Wikipedia
- The Mining Operations Division, Department of Minerals and Energy, Western Australia. Minesafe, March 2000
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