Lakeview Gusher

Lakeview Gusher Number One
275px The Lakeview gusher after the flow had partially subsided and the well surrounded by a sandbag berm, 1910.
Location	Kern County, California
Coordinates
Date	14 March 1910 – September 1911
Cause
Cause	Wellhead blowout
Operator	Lakeview Oil Company
Spill characteristics
Volume	9 million barrels (1.4×10^6 m3)
California Historical Landmark
Reference no.	485

Lakeview Gusher Number One is the name given to an immense, out-of-control eruption of hydrocarbons from a pressurized oil well in the Midway-Sunset Oil Field in Kern County, California, in 1910. It created the largest accidental oil spill in history, lasting 18 months and releasing 9 million barrels (1.4×10^⁶ m³) of crude oil.

Midway-Sunset was one of the largest oil reserves in America. When drilling commenced, the Lakeview Oil Company expected natural gas and a small amount of oil. Instead, there was a large blowout which overloaded storage tanks.

The 9-million-barrels (1.4×10^⁶ m³) geyser released more than 1.2 million US tons of crude, far more than any other single leak on land or water. Its site is located about a half-mile (800 m) east of the Taft–Maricopa Highway, California Route 33, marked by a Caltrans guide sign and a bronze plaque designated as California Historical Landmark number 485.

Background

The Lakeview Oil Company started drilling at their Number One well on 1 January 1909. Initially only natural gas was found. As work continued the company partnered with Union Oil, which wanted to build storage tanks there.

Early twentieth-century drilling technology lacked such modern safety features as blowout preventers. When drilling reached 2,440 ft (740 m) on 14 March 1910 pressurized oil blew through well casing above the bit. An estimated 9 million barrels (1.4×10^⁶ m³) escaped before the gusher was brought under control in September 1911.

Initial daily flow was 18,800 barrels (2,990 m³), creating a river of crude that crews rushed to contain with improvised sand bag dams and dikes. Peak flow reached some 90,000 barrels (14,000 m³), diverted via pipeline to storage tanks 2.5 miles (4.0 km) away, where an 8-inch (200 mm) line led to Port Avila on the coast.

In spite of these efforts, less than half of the 9.4 million barrels released during the gusher's 544 days was saved, the rest evaporating off or seeping into the ground.

• Lakeview1Gusher4.jpg

  River of crude contained by dikes

• Lakeview1Gusher5.jpg

  A timber containment box was pulled over the gusher with heavy cables, soon destroyed by the oil's pressure

• Lakeview Gusher OilStrata1910.JPG

  Stratified, congealed crude oil 100 ft (30 m) from the gusher site. The March 2008 image shows an area about 10 in (250 mm) across.

• LakeviewGusherPlaque.jpg

  Dedicatory plaque

See also

• List of oil spills (in reverse chronological order)
• Largest oil spills in history

External links

• The Lakeview Gusher site images at The Center for Land Use Interpretation

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