A Drill Entered a Salt Mine. The Lake Began to Drain.

1. Exploratory Drilling

On the morning of November 20, 1980, an oil rig contracted by Texaco conducted exploratory drilling near Lake Peigneur. The brackish lake was a popular Louisiana recreation spot located above a subterranean salt dome. Beneath the lake bed, the Diamond Crystal Salt Company operated an active underground mine with multiple tunnel levels. The drill assembly became stuck while operating near the edge of the salt formation.

Drilling operations encountered unexpected difficulties.

2. Mine Puncture

The drill bit accidentally pierced an inactive third level of the underground salt mine. Water from the lake immediately began pouring down into the subterranean caverns. The inflow dissolved the supporting salt pillars and caused the mine tunnels to collapse. A massive whirlpool formed on the surface and began draining the entire lake.

Water rushed down into the mine shafts.

3. Swallowed Equipment

The powerful vortex swallowed the drilling platform, eleven supply barges, a tugboat, and surrounding terrain. Trees and soil slid into the expanding sinkhole on Jefferson Island. So much water drained into the empty caverns that the local canal flow reversed direction. Salt water from the Gulf of Mexico rushed backward into the empty lakebed.

The whirlpool dragged equipment into the depths.

4. Temporary Waterfall

The reverse flow from the canal created a temporary waterfall as the lake refilled with salty water. Compressed air trapped inside the collapsing mine caverns erupted upward through the shafts. These geysers shot water and debris high into the air above the site. Water pressure eventually equalized after the lake filled back up with marine water.

Compressed air erupted through the mine shafts.

5. Orderly Evacuation

Inside the mine, fifty-five employees heard the roaring torrent and sounded immediate alarms. The workers followed safety training and escaped in an orderly fashion via the single elevator shaft. On the surface, the drilling rig crew fled their platform shortly before it collapsed. A nearby fisherman successfully piloted his small boat to safety.

All mine workers escaped without injury.

6. Surfacing Barges

Days after the disaster, once underground water pressure equalized, nine of the sunken barges popped back up. These vessels refloated on the surface of the newly deepened lake. Authorities secured the area to assess environmental and structural damage to the surrounding shoreline. Engineers investigated the exact path of the drill hole.

Several sunken barges returned to the surface.

7. Legal Settlements

Investigators from the Mine Safety and Health Administration documented the event but could not determine official blame. Officials were unable to verify whether the drillers operated in the wrong location or if mine maps were inaccurate. In 1983, Texaco and drilling contractors paid multi-million dollar out-of-court settlements to the salt company and local nurseries. Additional compensation covered property damage around the lake.

Companies agreed to substantial financial settlements.

8. Industrial Aftermath

The lake drained into the breached salt mine, and water flowing in from the canal reversed its usual direction during the event. Barges and equipment disappeared into the opening, while the workers escaped. The lake later refilled with salt water and a much deeper basin. Legal settlements followed, but the altered lake itself remained evidence of the drilling incident of November 1980.

The lake returned with a different depth and water source.

Sources

• Original narrative adaptation — CC BY-SA 4.0
• Wikipedia contributors — Lake Peigneur (CC BY-SA 4.0)