page_title: Lakeview Gusher
hierarchical_section_title: Lakeview Gusher
caption_attribution_description: English: Lakeview No. 1 gusher, 1910. Photo courtesy San Joaquin Valley Geologic Society. On March 15, 1910, the Lakeview No. 1 well of Union Oil Company blew out. For the next eight months, the Lakeview No. 1 gusher spewed oil uncontrolled, coating the surrounding countryside in petroleum and creating a huge lake of oil and sand at the derrick’s base that soon swallowed the derrick and drilling equipment. Workers eventually contained the lake using sandbags, but for ten more months oil continued to pour out of the well. Very little of the oil was saved and most evaporated or seeped into the ground. On September 10, 1911, the bottom of the crater caved in and the well ceased gushing oil. Workers have since filled in the crater and erected a plaque to mark the site.
context_page_description: Lakeview Gusher Number One was an 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 of crude oil.
  Midway-Sunset was one of the largest oil reserves in the United States. 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 geyser released more than 1.2 million short tons of crude oil, far more than any other single leak on land or water. Its site is located about a half-mile 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.
context_section_description: Lakeview Gusher Number One was an 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 (1.4×10⁶ m³) of crude oil. 
  Midway-Sunset was one of the largest oil reserves in the United States.  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 geyser released more than 1.2 million short tons (1,100,000 t) of crude oil, 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.
caption: The Lakeview gusher with a lake of crude oil surrounding the derrick, mid-1910
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