Some stories — even big stories — are sometimes knocked from the front page by even bigger stories.
That’s where the podcast “Eclipsed” comes in.
When Campside Media created the history podcast, the 1980 Lake Peigneur disaster was one of its first stories about interesting events that got overshadowed nationally or globally by even bigger news.
“It was one of those stories about an industrial accident that was fascinating and not terribly sad story,” said journalist Bijan Stephen, 30, the show’s executive producer and host. “Nobody died. It also was emblematic of unintended consequences of people doing business.”
And the next day, the MGM Grand Casino in Las Vegas caught fire, killing 85 people.
But Stephen finds much compelling in what happened at Lake Peigneur, and the kind of story “Eclipsed” is designed to explore.
A placid, roughly 1,000-acre lake near New Iberia, Peigneur was a haven for fishermen and a scenic backdrop to Rip Van Winkle Gardens, a 20-acre paradise of tropical plants developed by John Lyle “Jack” Bayless Jr. around the circa 1870 Joseph Jefferson Home. Bayless built a home on the lake’s edge in which he planned to enjoy his retirement.
Two things below the lake — salt and oil — would destroy, among other things, those plans.
A Texaco oil rig in the middle of the then-shallow lake punched a hole in a subterranean salt dome being mined by Diamond Crystal Salt. The oil rig began listing, causing those aboard to head for shore. They looked back to see the rig disappear into the lake and saw a whirlpool that sucked the entire lake, including 11 barges, into the vortex. It also pulled in 65 acres of lakeshore, including Bayless’ new home and much of the garden.
Amazingly, all 55 workers in the salt mine escaped as the lake flooded it.
When the lake emptied, water from the Delcambre Canal, which connects Lake Peigneur with the Gulf of Mexico, reversed course and created a 150-foot waterfall until the lake was refilled with brackish instead of fresh water. Nine of the 11 barges eventually bobbed to the surface.
The podcast draws from Wilfred Johnson, whose quick thinking was credited for getting the miners out safely; Bayless’ assistant, Mike Richard, who eventually bought the garden; and the reporting of science journalist Michael Gold. Stephen considers Johnson the most compelling character in the podcast.
“His actions in the mine really prevented it from becoming a huge disaster,” Stephen said. “He made split-second decisions that saved 50 people’s lives. … I think the story is good because it does have a lot of strong characters.”
Other stories include Australian pop star Cathy Wayne being shot to death while performing for American servicemen in Vietnam, which was swept off the headlines by the first moon landing the next day, and three Americans who went to the 1980 Moscow Olympics in defiance of President Jimmy Carter’s boycott.
“Maybe the moral is … the power of human ingenuity under duress,” he said.
“Eclipsed” is available on Apple Podcasts, Spotify and Stitcher.
