The Lakeview Gusher of 1910 is within the news a century later thanks to the oil spill within the Gulf of Mexico 2010. As the BP oil spill gushes for the 50th straight day, its sheer volume of toxic pollution is drawing comparisons to the Lakeview Gusher, a California calamity known as the worst oil spill in U.S. history 100 years ago. A century hence, the undersea gusher is overwhelming an oil spill cap on the oil spill live feed, which shows thousands of barrels a day nevertheless flowing to the sea.
Lakeview Gusher vs. BP oil spill
The Lakeview Gusher happened in March 1910 when an oil well blew out near Maricopa, Calif The Pasadena Star-News reports that the Lakeview Gusher lasted 18 months and spilled 9 million barrels of oil–378 million gallons. Estimates within the first 50 days of the oil spill in the Gulf of Mexico 2010 are as high as 122 million gallons. Some experts believe that figure to be much higher. The Lakeview Gusher blowout flowed at about 48,000 barrels a day. The daily output of the BP oil spill has been estimated as high as 72,000 barrels (3 million gallons) a day.
A lake of oil within the desert
The Lakeview Gusher, although a huge disaster, is designated as probably the most productive single oil well in California.At the start the gusher spilled 18,000 barrels a day into the ground. Peak flow was estimated at 90,000 barrels a day. The spill became a river of oil flowing downhill from the well, accumulating into a 60-acre lake.So much oil was recovered from the lake that William Rintoul in his book, “Drilling Through Time,” said it drove down the price of oil in 1910.
Oil spill live feed: cameras don’t lie
The oil spill cap, BP’s latest effort to control the oil spill in the Gulf of Mexico 2010, seems on the oil spill live feed (see below) to be overwhelmed by the raging gusher coming from the ruptured well. MSNBC reports that scientists are reacting with skepticism about BP’s assertion that the majority of the leaking oil is being corralled by the oil spill cap. On Tuesday, BP said the oil spill cap siphoned 14,800 barrels of oil the previous day. The BP oil leak may be belching up to 100,000 barrels a day, said Ira Leifer, a member of the Flow Rate Technical Group, a panel of experts appointed to determine the size of the spill.
Underwater plumes smother marine life
The New York Times reports that scientists have traced deep underwater plumes of oil carrying one of the most grave threat to undersea live ever seen. The Times said that scientists cruising the gulf over the last two weeks detected a deeply submerged plume of oil roughly 15 miles wide, 3 miles long and about 600 feet high. The plume’s center of mass floats about 3,600 to 4,300 feet deep. Microorganisms consuming oxygen out of the water as they break down the oil are creating a dead zone devoid of any marine life.
Citations
pasadenastarnews.com
msnbc.msn.com
www.nytimes.com
