The Lake Peigneur Drilling Disaster 1980 | Plainly Difficult Documentary

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On Thursday, November 20, 1980, an oil rig contracted by Texaco drilling in the lake, above the Diamond Crystal Salt Company salt mine, this resulted in a collapse that would drain the Lake Dry.......

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SOCIAL MEDIA:

CHAPTERS:
00:00 Intro
01:31 Private Internet Access Sponsorship
03:52 Background
10:49 Drilling Begins
13:58 The Disaster
16:47 Aftermath

EQUIPTMENT USED::
►SM7B
►Audient ID4
►MacBook Pro 16
►Hitfilm
►Logic X

MUSIC:
►Intro: Scheherazade (Rimsky-Korsakov)
►Outro: 303 Jam Pt1 (Plainly John)

OTHER GREAT CHANNELS:

Sources:

#disaster #Documentary​​​​ #History​​​​​​​​​ #TrueStories​

[ajfurnari]

The fact that nobody was killed in this size of an accident was nothing short of miraculous

[fishea]

This is such a good story. The clash of mining titans, the reversed river, the boats disappearing as if Gob Bluth was involved, the insane physics - and nobody died! Only you, Mr. Difficult, could do this one justice. Thank you!!

[Fusilier]

I first learned about the Lake Peigneur disaster from the History channel, "Modern Marvels: Engineering Disasters 5", this episode aired in 2003. It was wild seeing the disaster footage, as the lake drained down the bore hole, creating a giant whirlpool, and landslides as the earth itself was sucked down into the mine, this episode remains my primary source for Lake Peigneur.

[fltmed]

This is the second week in a row that John has covered two incidents that I am extremely familiar with. This incident, The Lake Peigneur sinkhole, occurred when I was a child. While several hundred miles away from where we lived, I remember the news stories of the incident. Last week's episode, The Queen Isabella Causeway Disaster, I was involved in the rescue and recovery operations as a critical care flight paramedic.

I never thought any of these incidents would see coverage like this. Once again, John never ceases to amaze and educate!

[eaglescout]

A couple more interesting occurrences due to the disaster:

Once the lake had completely drained, the water coming in from the Delcambre canal (flowing backwards, as mentioned) became a waterfall, and to this day is the tallest known waterfall in Louisiana history.

After the the lake was partially refilled (days after the disaster started) the pressure holding the barges and other boats down in the hole was gone, and several popped back up to the surface (9 of the 11 barges that had disappeared ultimately resurfaced).

[mikeholmstrom]

I'm glad you did this. In 1981, a drill rig that was just starting operation in Texas hit a 12 inch pipeline shipping an ethane-propane mix. 4 workers were killed in the following fire. The drilling company failed to check property & other records for any underground utilities there.

[TheQuarterrat]

As a resident of the fine state of Louisiana, thank you. Look into the somewhat recent "Hard Rock Hotel collapse." Corruption, incompetence and 3 deaths with an 18 story hotel structure under construction In New Orleans on Oct. 12, 2019, You should find some good footage. Keep up the great work.

[IanRubin]

There’s one final bit to this story that I love. At the time, the owners of Rip Van Winkle Gardens (which was built by Mr. Jefferson around the house on the island) had just finished a new home next to the lake. The land under it and the house got destroyed, but the chimney is still there as the last remaining part of the house. It’s a few feet off the shore in the lake and is visible from the gardens, or was as of the last time I went down there a few years ago. It was how I originally heard of the story and it’s still one of the most insane things I’ve ever heard and seen and is a really surreal sight to see in person!

[restitvtororbis]

"... Shocked to see the rig completely disappear below the water, something that shouldn't even be possible as the lake, at its deepest point, was only 12 ft." the fact that this reads like a creepy pasta makes it all the more miraculous that, somehow, nobody actually died

[MattDakus]

I can't imagine being a worker in a mine, seeing an oil drill on the lake above the mine I work in, and just shrugging my shoulders and being like "they know what they're doing."

How did none of the miners raise a red flag?

[drakesavory]

Unlike most Plainly Difficults, everyone saw their respective problems and reacted appropriately and everyone was saved. Usually it's "Wow! Things are going horribly wrong but I'm sure we'll be OK."

[anemptykarst]

I’ve been waiting for this one.

My dad grew up in the area and remembers noticing the oil rig that was always there *suddenly wasn’t*, and how bizarre for him it was that national news stations were talking about their tiny town and the surrounding area.

Glad to hear about it from you!

[dakotaflowers]

There's a coal mine near me in southeast Ohio, called meigs 31, that breeched an adjacent shaft that was flooded. The subsequent reaction was to dump the waste water into leading creek/racoon creek, which turned the ohio river orange from middleport to nearly Cincinnati. Would be epic to see you do a short on that horrendous incident.

[erikziak]

Something similar happened in Prešov. The salt mine was flooded (natural causes) but not abandoned. People started to take out the salt brine and cook it to get salt. It worked for decades. I have visited the museum there, it is very interesting and certainly worth a visit to see all the technology from the 17th century. Just search for Prešov Salt Plant if you want to find out more.

[jaykace]

This, by far, is one of my favorite stories, I've actually been there to the site. Thank you plainly difficult, you always hit it out of the park and make every Saturday amazing!

[altonwilliams]

Plainly Difficult your level of sarcasm makes these videos amazing to watch.

Thank you.

[ironhead]

Honestly, I think the fact no one was killed is a testament to both the training of the mine workers and the drillers. That's what makes the difference in these situations, and my fellow Louisianans did us proud that day.

[Mousecaddet]

It is so incredibly cool to see you cover this. As someone who is immensely interested in whirlpools, natural and otherwise, this has always been one of the most interesting disasters to me. You are my favorite mini documentary maker on yt, you always make them lighthearted but in the most respectful way which is insanely difficult. Plus you never have misinformation, you make things super easy to understand, and your drawings are fantastic I love it. Thank you so much for covering this, especially since mine disasters seemed intimidating to cover. We all really appreciate it! Wishing you well always my guy.

[epicspacetroll]

I'd read and watched documents about this one before and always thought it was one of the most bizarre disasters to be caused by man.

[Robocopnik]

Just imagine actually watching that happen, in person, how surreal must that have been, like watching a whole lake disappear down a bath-drain.