Lakeview Well

The Midway-Sunset Oil Field in Kern County, California, had the Lakeview Gusher, a pressured oil well explosion, in 1910. It caused the greatest unintentional oil spill in history, spewing 9 million barrels of crude oil over the course of 18 months. One of the biggest oil deposits in the country was Midway-Sunset. The Lakeview Oil Company anticipated finding natural gas and a modest amount of oil when drilling started. Instead, a major blowout resulted in storage tanks being overcrowded.

Workers created "hoods" in an attempt to restrict the oil fountain, but the strategy failed. Between 40,000 and 50,000 barrels of oil were being lost daily from the disaster. The oil well finally collapsed on itself on September 9, 1911, stopping the leak, which had been ongoing for the previous 18 months. Crude oil spilled in excess of 378 million gallons. Despite the substantial volume of oil that was spilled, there was virtually little environmental damage. Around Lakeview Well, there was a few kilometers of black mist, but thanks to the efforts of volunteers and employees alike, the spill's negative consequences were lessened. The majority of the oil soaked into the soil or evaporated after dikes were manually constructed to prevent it from contaminating the Buena Vista lake. Parts of the region are still covered in oil 100 years later, but there hasn't been much environmental harm reported.

When: 1910
Where:California, USA
Oil spilt: 378 million gallons