uranian
12th July 2010, 04:22 PM
Lakeview gusher, biggest ever, most productive single oil well in California, spewed as much as 90,000 barrels of oil a day, for 18 months when it was first tapped in 1910. A 60-acre lake of oil formed on the site, on which several people floated about in small skiffs. Eventually 2000 wooden oil derricks were erected to drill for more in the area.
http://www.treehugger.com/lakeviewgusherb.jpg
Ixtoc, another GoM spill, 1979:
Some days, the oil sent a pungent odor over city streets, causing people headaches. Always, there was fear. Residents worried the crude would forever foul the sandy beaches dotting their shores and wipe out habitat for shrimp and fish in a place where thousands of people made their living from the sea.
The 1979 Ixtoc I exploratory oil well blowout in the Bay of Campeche caused what was then history's largest accidental marine oil spill, spewing at least 3 million barrels of crude into the Gulf of Mexico -- an amount that may have already been surpassed by the Macondo well blowout on April 20. As the BP disaster will doubtlessly change New Orleans and coastal Louisiana, Ixtoc profoundly remade Mexico's Ciudad del Carmen, the nearest community.
But the changes were surprising in ways. Though it took 10 months for the oil company to finally plug the leak, the threat of environmental catastrophe never fully materialized. Ciudad del Carmen managed to evolve and even prosper -- in the process growing into a much larger city than it had ever been.
http://geo-mexico.com/wp-content/uploads/2010/06/ixtoc-1.jpg
lots more at the link (http://www.nola.com/news/gulf-oil-spill/index.ssf/2010/07/1979s_ixtoc_oil_well_blowout_i.html).
difference with the current spill seems 2fold; depth, and massive use of dispersants. seems so far that the dispersants are causing more problems than the oil.
http://www.treehugger.com/lakeviewgusherb.jpg
Ixtoc, another GoM spill, 1979:
Some days, the oil sent a pungent odor over city streets, causing people headaches. Always, there was fear. Residents worried the crude would forever foul the sandy beaches dotting their shores and wipe out habitat for shrimp and fish in a place where thousands of people made their living from the sea.
The 1979 Ixtoc I exploratory oil well blowout in the Bay of Campeche caused what was then history's largest accidental marine oil spill, spewing at least 3 million barrels of crude into the Gulf of Mexico -- an amount that may have already been surpassed by the Macondo well blowout on April 20. As the BP disaster will doubtlessly change New Orleans and coastal Louisiana, Ixtoc profoundly remade Mexico's Ciudad del Carmen, the nearest community.
But the changes were surprising in ways. Though it took 10 months for the oil company to finally plug the leak, the threat of environmental catastrophe never fully materialized. Ciudad del Carmen managed to evolve and even prosper -- in the process growing into a much larger city than it had ever been.
http://geo-mexico.com/wp-content/uploads/2010/06/ixtoc-1.jpg
lots more at the link (http://www.nola.com/news/gulf-oil-spill/index.ssf/2010/07/1979s_ixtoc_oil_well_blowout_i.html).
difference with the current spill seems 2fold; depth, and massive use of dispersants. seems so far that the dispersants are causing more problems than the oil.