Lake Peigneur, Brackish lake in Iberia Parish, Louisiana, United States
Lake Peigneur is a lake in Iberia Parish near Vermilion Bay that covers 455 hectares and now reaches a depth of 61 meters (200 feet). The body of water sits entirely on private land along Louisiana Highway 89 and has changed from a shallow freshwater lake into a deep saltwater basin.
In 1980, an oil rig accidentally drilled into a salt mine beneath the lake, creating a massive whirlpool that drained all the water within a few hours. Afterward, seawater flowed backward through Delcambre Canal and refilled the basin with saltwater from the Gulf of Mexico.
The name derives from the French word peigneur, "one who combs," a reference to the comb-like shape of the lake. Since 1994 the salt dome beneath the lakebed has served AGL Resources as a storage hub for pressurized natural gas, a use that drew safety concerns from nearby residents in 2009.
The lake can only be viewed through Rip Van Winkle Gardens, since the entire shoreline sits on private property. A visit works well combined with exploring the gardens and the surrounding area along Highway 89.
Days after the whirlpool formed, nine of the eleven barges that had been pulled under rose back to the surface once water pressure equalized. The lake's salt dome has stored pressurized natural gas for AGL Resources since 1994.
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