| Submit your comments on this article |
| -Signs, Portents, and the Weather- |
| Lake Peigneur: The Swirling Vortex of Doom |
| 2007-10-02 |
| Early in the morning on November 21, 1980, twelve men decided to abandon their oil drilling rig on the suspicion that it was beginning to collapse beneath them. They had been probing for oil under the floor of Lake Peigneur when their drill suddenly seized up at about 1,230 feet below the muddy surface, and they were unable free it. In their attempts to work the drill loose, which is normally fairly easy at that shallow depth, the men heard a series of loud pops, just before the rig tilted precariously towards the water. At the time, Lake Peigneur was an unremarkable body of water near New Iberia, Louisiana. Though the freshwater lake covered 1,300 acres of land, it was only eleven feet deep. A small island there was home to a beautiful botanical park, oil wells dotted the landscape, and far beneath the lake were miles of tunnels for the Diamond Crystal salt mine. Concluding that something had gone terribly wrong, the men on the rig cut the attached barges loose, scrambled off the rig, and moved to the shore about 300 yards away. Shortly after they abandoned the $5 million Texaco drilling platform, the crew watched in amazement as the huge platform and derrick overturned, and disappeared into a lake that was supposed to be shallow. Soon the water around that position began to turn. It was slow at first, but it steadily accelerated until it became a fast-moving whirlpool a quarter of a mile in diameter, with its center directly over the drill site. . . . |
| Posted by:Mike |
| #7 understandable, Laurence, thx :-) |
| Posted by: Frank G 2007-10-02 22:43 |
| #6 There is a old plantation (haunted, naturally) you can visit right there on the lake and you can get a tour boat ride right out over where it (the drill accident) happened. After watching the little video first, to put you in the mood. Quite fun. The Tabasco plant is nearby too for visiting as well. Being Louisiana I do believe there are adult beverages around, but I'm a little foggy there. *g* |
| Posted by: Laurence of the Rats 2007-10-02 22:38 |
| #5 Riverine deltas [read - mud]that became US State(s). |
| Posted by: JosephMendiola 2007-10-02 19:15 |
| #4 Cthulhu! |
| Posted by: Frank G 2007-10-02 13:49 |
| #3 The mishap began with a surveying error, which caused the oil drilling rig to puncture into an active, working salt mine (instead of proceeding downward alongside it). I prefer the Charybdis explanation, myself. But I'll concede to science on this one. |
| Posted by: xbalanke 2007-10-02 13:33 |
| #2 The History Channel program on the Lake Peigneur disaster (no deaths or injuries, but some truly spectacular property destruction) is a must-see. Absolutely fascinating. The mishap began with a surveying error, which caused the oil drilling rig to puncture into an active, working salt mine (instead of proceeding downward alongside it). The lake rapidly drained into the mine, steadily enlarging the drill hole to the point where entire barges were sucked down into the vortex. The canal which normally drains the lake into the Gulf of Mexico began to flow backwards, and the Gulf promptly topped off the mine-- at which point all the barges and other debris that had been sucked down the hole, popped back up to the surface again. It was a truly spectacular fuckup, and a royal mess. If you ever get a chance to watch the program, do. |
| Posted by: Dave D. 2007-10-02 09:40 |
| #1 The youtube vid from the History Channel linked at the article is pretty amazing; never heard about thatt, "damn interesting" indeed. |
| Posted by: anonymous5089 2007-10-02 08:45 |