The Lakeview Gusher
March 14, 1910 - It was on this day that a drill bit reached a depth of 2,440 feet beneath Kern County, California and unleashed a massive oil spill.
The Lakeview Gusher would flow out of control for 18 months. Over 9 million barrels of crude oil were spilled before the well could finally be contained. At its peak, the spill formed a 60-acre lake of oil.
It's ranked as the 3rd largest oil spill in world history. Estimates are that the Lakeview Gusher spilled almost twice as much oil as 2010's Deepwater Horizon spill in the Gulf of Mexico.
