27 Years Ago: Bizarre Drilling Disaster at Lake Peigneur

Miraculously no one was killed. All of the miners from the mine were able to make it safely out of the mine and the drill crew made it off the barge before the water had dissolved enough salt to enlarge the hole and create what must have been an impressive vortex. I think one of the more amazing things is that several days after the event, 9 of the 11 barges resurfaced on the lake!

Another interesting tidbit, since 1994 the salt dome underneath Lake Peigneur has been used as a natural gas storage and hub facility for pressurized natural gas.

Video

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Location Map

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Links

2 Comments

  1. 1980 was 27 years before 2007, not 17. What do they learn in school these days? Not like when I was young, etc, etc…

  2. Whoops.
    How terribly embarrassing! 😛 I must have been up in the wee hours posting this one!

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