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updates | August 03, 2026

What happened at Lake Peigneur?

On the morning of November 21, 1980, a Texaco oil rig team on Louisiana’s Lake Peigneur noticed that their drill had seized up below the surface of the shallow lake. They had managed to permanently transform a 10-foot-deep freshwater lake into a 200-foot-deep saltwater one.

Is Lake Peigneur still there?

Lake Peigneur, the site of one of the state’s most spectacular industrial disasters in 1980, kept coming up in my conversations with residents of Bayou Corne, the Cajun community in south Louisiana that has been evacuated for more than a year due to a massive, mining-induced sinkhole that now spans 24 acres—and is …

What happened in the Lake Peigneur disaster and how this is related to landslides?

In 1980, Texaco drilled down to look for oil beneath Lake Peigneur. A little too far down. As the hole into the mine widened, the vortex accelerated and created massive landslides, pulling anything and everything into its maw. …

What is the deepest lake in Louisiana?

Lake Peigneur
Lake Peigneur is a small saltwater lake near the Vermilion Bay in south Louisiana. The lake has a maximum depth of 200 feet and is the deepest lake in Louisiana.

How deep is Lake Peigneur now?

200 feet
With a maximum depth of 200 feet (60 meters), it is the deepest lake in Louisiana. Its name comes from the French word “peigneur”, meaning “one who combs.”…

Lake Peigneur
Surface area 1,125 acres (455 ha)
Average depth 3 ft (1 m)
Max. depth 200 ft (61 m)
Wikimedia | © OpenStreetMap

Can you fish in Lake Peigneur?

Fishing in Lake Peigneur Lake Peigneur is a lake near Youngsville. The most popular species caught here are Red drum, Black drum, and Largemouth bass. 25 catches are logged on Fishbrain. Please use your best judgement when determining where you can fish, and make sure you follow local rules and regulations.

What kind of fish are in Lake peigneur?

Striped bass
Largemouth bassSmallmouth bassWhite bassSpotted bass
Lake Peigneur/Fish

Can you fish in Lake peigneur?

Where is Lake Peigneur located in Louisiana?

Jump to navigation Jump to search. Lake Peigneur (pronounced [pɛɲœʁ]) is a saline lake in the US state of Louisiana, 1.2 miles (1.9 km) north of Delcambre and 9.1 miles (14.6 km) west of New Iberia, near the northernmost tip of Vermilion Bay. With a maximum depth of 200 feet (61 m), it is the deepest lake in Louisiana.

What happened to the oil rig at Lake Peigneur?

Early in the morning on November 20, 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 to free it.

Why did they stop flying over Lake Pontchartrain?

The Federal Aviation Administration rerouted all flights over the area for fear of a natural gas explosion. The water from the canal, now flowing in from the Gulf of Mexico, formed a 150-foot waterfall into the cavity where the lake had been, slowly filling the mine below with salty ocean water, then the crater itself.