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Lakeview Gusher Number One is the name given to an immense, out-of-control 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 of crude oil. Midway-Sunset was one of the largest oil reserves in America. 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 US tons of crude, 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. ==Background== The Lakeview Oil Company started drilling at their Number One well on 1 January 1909. Initially only natural gas was found. As work continued the company partnered with Union Oil, which wanted to build storage tanks there. Early twentieth-century drilling technology lacked such modern safety features as blowout preventers. When drilling reached on 14 March 1910 pressurized oil blew through well casing above the bit. An estimated escaped before the gusher was brought under control in September 1911. Initial daily flow was , creating a river of crude that crews rushed to contain with improvised sand bag dams and dikes. Peak flow reached some , diverted via pipeline to storage tanks away, where an line led to Port Avila on the coast.〔 In spite of these efforts, less than half of the 9.4 million barrels released during the gusher's 544 days was saved, the rest evaporating off or seeping into the ground.〔 File:Lakeview1Gusher4.jpg|River of crude contained by dikes File:Lakeview1Gusher5.jpg|A timber containment box was pulled over the gusher with heavy cables, soon destroyed by the oil's pressure File:Lakeview Gusher OilStrata1910.JPG|Stratified, congealed crude oil from the gusher site. The March 2008 image shows an area about across. File:LakeviewGusherPlaque.jpg|Dedicatory plaque 抄文引用元・出典: フリー百科事典『 ウィキペディア（Wikipedia）』 ■ウィキペディアで「Lakeview Gusher」の詳細全文を読む スポンサード リンク
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