In the early hours of November 20, 1980, Lake Peigneur was a mirror of calm water. But everything changed when Texaco Oil Company made a fatal measurement error. Its drill pierced the roof of an active salt mine beneath the lake, and the water began to drain at an astonishing speed.
The workers fled at the last second, and the fishermen who were there barely had time to react. The Delcambre Canal reversed its course, creating the tallest waterfall in Louisiana.
In three hours the lake disappeared and turned into an abyss more than 300 meters deep. Salt mining was destroyed and hundreds of workers lost their jobs, but the disaster also brought an unexpected discovery: ancient bacteria that had been dormant for millions of years inside the salt crystals awoke thanks to human error.
