Jefferson Island

Jefferson Island is another of the so-called "Five Islands".  It is located approximately 40 miles from Lafayette, Louisiana.  Jefferson Island was named after Joseph Jefferson, a famous contemporary actor,  who purchased the island.
 

The hill in the background is the site of the Joseph Jefferson mansion, and some of the old salt mine buildings of the Diamond Crystal Salt Company.
 

Exploration for oil at Jefferson Island dome began in 1928, by the Jefferson Lake Oil Company.  After drilling a number of dry hole it was decided that a well would be drilled in the middle of Lake Peigneur.  The picture below shows what is referred to as a "Pump Jack",  this replaces the rig once oil has been struck.
 

Texaco had the development rights to the Jefferson Island oil and gas field in 1980.  Two exploratory wells  were in progress near the salt mine, one of these wells was located in the lake,  when a drill pipe got stuck and could not be moved vertically or rotated.  As the drilling rig became unstable and the crew was evacuated, the rig later overturned and disappeared into a lake with water only 11 feet deep.  Within three hours the lake emptied into what was a rapidly developing sinkhole.  Fortunately no lives were lost however there was much damage.  The lake eventually stablized but a vast whirlpool approximately a quarter of a mile in diameter sucked everything within the lake downward before it returned to normal.  Below is a telephone pole that lays in the water.
 
 

This picture shows a chimney that still stands in the water today as a reminder of the big  sinkhole that swallowed the lake for a while and then restablized to the present level seen today.