Peigneur group headed to Baton Rouge

BY STEVEN K. LANDRY, THE DAILY IBERIAN
Published/Last Modified on Wednesday, May 30, 2007 8:16 AM CDT

"Save Lake Peigneur" residents are set to offer a PowerPoint presentation at the Baton Rouge State Capitol Wednesday at 9:30 a.m. for the Committee on Natural Resources.

Meanwhile, residents said they saw more of the mysterious bubbling on the surface of the lake Friday.

They hope to persuade lawmakers to pass a bill that would prohibit drilling in and around Lake Peigneur or the Jefferson Island salt dome. Passage would directly affect AGL Resources, which wants to build two new underground natural-gas storage caverns, Crowley said Friday.

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She and others are unhappy that the word "prohibit" in the wording of the bill has raised concerns among oil and gas lobbyists. It is not to prohibit drilling, she said, as House Bill 617, by Rep. Sydnie Mae Durand, D-St. Martinville, would allow directional drilling. That's an important distinction, Crowley said.

"It doesn't prohibit drilling altogether," Crowley said. "People read this and people are calling us up and saying, 'I'm concerned about this because you won't be able to do any drilling.' I tell them that's not true. But they don't put that in the (legislative) abstract."

She said "no one else" but five people have seen the PowerPoint presentation, though she wouldn't name the group. The public will see the presentation Thursday at a meeting at Rip Van Winkle Gardens at Jefferson Island, located north of Delcambre.

She said the PowerPoint "is going to prove that there should be no drilling at the lake."

A 1980 drilling accident made national news at the 1,300-acre lake. She wouldn't elaborate about the presentation they're giving, but did say it would change a lot of people's minds about the safety of drilling around the dome beneath the surface of the lake.

Mysterious bubbling incidents have occurred for months now. One happened Friday, she said.

"We have news that will change, and should change, their minds," Crowley said. "If it (presentation Wednesday) doesn't change the legislators' minds, then they're going to be negligent in their vote."

The meeting is at 9:30 a.m. in Committee Room 4.

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