BATON ROUGE — House Bill 617, as filed by Rep. Sydnie Mae Durand, D-St. Martinville, would prohibit drilling in and around Lake Peigneur or the Jefferson Island salt dome just north of Delcambre.

Durand’s proposed law — written by “Save Lake Peigneur” residents — would prohibit drilling for purposes of exploration, production, storage, disposal or leaching. It would provide an exception for directional drilling that originates outside the lake and salt dome for oil and gas exploration.

The allowance for directional drilling means the “oil industry won’t be affected for exploration purposes,” said Lake Peigneur resident Nara Crowley. Directional drilling, sometimes known as “slant drilling” outside the oil industry, is the science of drilling non-vertical wells.

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“We actually wrote the bill,” Crowley said Monday.

“We plan to hold a press conference about it this week.”

She said the bill focuses on the environmental aspects of the 1,300-acre, pristine lake. It is “very specific” and is “exactly what we wanted,” she said.

“It’s so they can’t expand drilling in the lake,” Crowley said.

“The oil industry is not affected for exploration purposes. We’re saying nobody can go through the lake from the surface, or through the salt dome.”

Durand said from the House floor Monday afternoon — just after Gov. Kathleen Blanco’s opening address — that she had offered a similar resolution during the last session because she once had witnessed an accident in a Mississippi salt dome. Durand, who worked 38 years in the oilfield, said the cavern explosion killed one man and injured several others.

“It was a disaster,” Durand said.

“That’s what provoked me to do that first resolution. So then I had met all the people around Lake Peigneur, and they asked me if I’d do this bill. The poor lake has been put upon, and it’s such a beautiful place. We want to see if we can’t let people just enjoy it and also avert any disasters.”

She also said the bill allows directional drilling.

“We don’t want to stop drilling, but we certainly want protection for people around there. You might be affected as much as 15 to 20 miles away (if an explosion occurs),” Durand said.

Crowley said she expects some opposition to the proposed legislation, “but we’re prepared for it.”

“But we shouldn’t get any from the oil industry,” Crowley said.

AGL Resources has a plant at the lake and two underground gas-storage caverns. The company wants to drill two more, but the state stopped the move. AGL filed suit, which is still awaiting action.

The passage of Durand’s bill would prevent AGL from expanding, Crowley said.

“Yes, because it’s only for oil and gas exploration,” she said. “They couldn’t do any drilling through the lake, and directional drilling is OK for oil and gas exploration.”

Residents claim that AGL could be responsible for the mysterious bubbling that occurs occasionally at the lake. Crowley said another bubbling incident occurred Friday.

“It was very significant,” Crowley said.

“It was large, several thousand feet long, and it was wide and high. It occurred at 7:30 in the morning, but no one had a camera on hand and by 8:30 it was gone. It seems like, at least lately, they’ve all been in the early morning. Before, we’d have them all day long.”

The Peigneur group “absolutely” wrote the bill in part because of the bubbling, she said.

“We have significant issues with that,” Crowley said.

The bill has been assigned to the House Natural Resources Committee.

If it passes, it would become effective upon signature of the governor or lapse of time for gubernatorial action.

The Louisiana Legislative session began Monday. It must end by June 28.