The Lake That Drained Into a Mine
November 20, 1980
On 20 November 1980, a lake in Louisiana disappeared down a hole. An oil rig drilling from Lake Peigneur punched into a salt mine beneath it, and the lake poured into the mine like water down a bathtub drain. The whirlpool swallowed the rig, a string of barges, trees and acres of land, and for a few days the canal that normally drained the lake ran backwards. Remarkably, no one died.
A lake above a mine
Lake Peigneur was a shallow lake near Vermilion Bay. Under it lay a salt dome, and beneath nearby Jefferson Island the Diamond Crystal Salt Company had dug a mine with huge caverns. Wikipedia says the mine had operated since 1919 and reached about 1,500 feet down, with tunnels supported by pillars of salt. Texaco was exploring for oil from a rig in the lake, both UPI's report of the next day and Wikipedia say.
How deep the lake was is one of several details the sources disagree on. UPI described it as a 3-foot-deep lake; Wikipedia says it was about 10 feet deep. Wikipedia says it is now far deeper, around 200 feet at its deepest.
The drain opens
On the morning of 20 November, Wikipedia says, the drill became stuck at 1,228 feet and the rig then began to tilt. UPI quotes Texaco saying the rig had reached 1,228 feet when it apparently punched into the roof of a mine cavern. Fresh water poured in, dissolving the salt and widening the hole, and the lake began to drain.
Both sources say the rig crew of seven abandoned the rig before it went under. UPI quotes a local fisherman, Leonce Viator, who was on the lake with his nephew: he described barges and boats rushing towards a hole in a circling whirlpool, along with trees and dirt, and said he thought it was the end of the world. The two tied their boat to a tree, ran ashore, and watched the tree go into the water.
Inside the mine, workers had to flee. UPI says 50 workers escaped the mine; Wikipedia says all 55 employees underground at the time got out, thanks to an electrician who raised the alarm and an orderly evacuation by the only elevator. Either way, everyone below ground survived.
What the lake swallowed
A radio news director who flew over the lake that evening told UPI she saw at least 10 barges, a drilling rig and a tugboat lying in the bottom of the crater like toys. Wikipedia counts 11 barges, the rig, a tugboat, many trees and about 65 acres of land, including much of Jefferson Island. UPI reports that greenhouses and a visitors' centre at the Live Oak Gardens tourist attraction collapsed.
As the lake emptied, the Delcambre Canal, which normally carried water out to the Gulf, reversed direction and poured water back in, both sources report. Wikipedia says this created, for a few days, a waterfall about 164 feet tall, the tallest in Louisiana, as salty water refilled the hole. UPI quotes the same witness describing a waterfall effect at one end of the crater. Wikipedia adds that nine of the eleven barges later bobbed back up to the surface.
Who was to blame?
At first even the cause was in doubt. UPI reported that some officials said the drilling might not have been responsible, and that a Texaco spokeswoman said the company had not been told about the mine shaft, though representatives had discussed the well site with Diamond Crystal beforehand. Wikipedia says the evidence was washed away in the whirlpool, and that the Mine Safety and Health Administration could not determine whether the rig was drilling in the wrong place or the mine maps were wrong.
The matter was settled with money rather than a verdict. Wikipedia says that in 1983 Texaco and the drilling contractor paid Diamond Crystal $32 million, and the companies paid the Live Oak Gardens a further $12.8 million, in out-of-court settlements. The mine closed in 1986. UPI quoted a biologist warning at the time that the lake would be much saltier afterwards and would not support the same life; Wikipedia describes it today as a brackish lake.
Further reading
- UPI Archives (21 Nov 1980): Drilling rig breaks into salt mine cavity, draining lake
- Wikipedia: Lake Peigneur