Bayou Corne is in the middle of nowhere deep in the heart of Bayou Country. Lake Charles is a modern city of about 75K. The Bayou Corne sink hole was caused by a salt mine. I think it's done sinking. What kind of info are you looking for? They are two dramatically different places.
The two are in relatively close proximity, so I would assume that anyone living in the area that is paying attention can confirm or debunk claims of the local impact.
So - my read is that the sinkhole was the result of drilling into a salt dome cavern that collapsed. Not the kind of mine that immediately comes to mind, as I am lead to believe that it is more like hydraulic mining, but completely underground. Claims are that the collapse also sent oil and other chemicals to the surface. True, or no? Still a problem, or no?
Lake Charles has a lot of oil and chemical industry in the area. Claim is that said industry pollutants have killed off the ancient cypress groves in the area and the fisheries in the river and bayous. True, or no?
Another claim that the industries involved are not paying damages, or paying a small portion of damages. True?
Lake Charles and Bayou Corne are approximately 125 miles apart.
The sinkhole at Bayou Corne was caused by a storage cavern collapsing. All over south Louisiana and even in Texas salt domes have been solution mined and are used to store either oil or natural gas. The Department of Energy stores over 713 million barrels of oil in salt caverns that were solution mined for that purpose in Texas and Louisiana. The DOE has a storage site only 20 miles from the Bayou Corne sinkhole. Several excuses or theories have been presented as to the cause of the Bayou Corne sinkhole, but it seems that cavern was not geologically sound but the company decided to expand anyway. These were not working mines. The top of the mine was probably 5000 feet below the surface. There was another storage cavern that collapsed in that area back in the late 90s or early 2000 that did not receive much press. In general the Bayou Corne area is back to normal. Some people have moved away and their houses are vacant. LA 70 is less than a 1/4 mile from the sinkhole and remains open. You can go to Google Earth and search "Bayou Corne sinkhole". It was not a major catastrophe unless of course you were personally affected.
Information on solution mining and caverns.
http://energy.gov/fe/services/petroleum-reserves/strategic-petroleum-reserve/spr-storage-sitesThe Lake Peigneur event was completely different. A drilling rig on a barge drilled a well through an operating salt mine by accident. All of the miners were able to evacuate as were the drilling rig personnel. The hole eventually swallowed the drilling rig, barges, tugboats, part of Jefferson Island, and drained the lake. The lake filled back through the Delcambre canal, the mine is closed forever, and life returned to normal for most people even though several hundred lost their jobs due to the mine closure. I live less than a mile from Lake Peigneur.
Video on Lake Peigneur
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=ddlrGkeOzsII know some of the guys on the video.
The Lake Charles area has one of the best fisheries anywhere. Some of the biggest speckled trout are caught there every year. While the Petro Chem industry has not done the environment any favors neither has digging up all of the reefs in our bays back in the 60 and 70s. This is one of the reasons our tidal surges are worse than they were years ago. The flood protection levees have ruined the natural flow of water and have stopped the process of building our shorelines with sediment each year. And last the oil company location and pipeline canals have not helped the situation either.
However with all of the problems we still enjoy great hunting and fishing opportunities along the coast.