1979 ixtoc 1 oil spill lasted nearly 10 months

[rkolinski]

I HEARD ABOUT THIS EARLIER OIL SPILL TODAY ON CNN

It was an oil platform called IXTOC 1 which was in the Gulf of Mexico about 600 miles south of Texas in the Bay of Campeche. The accident occurred June 3, 1979 when a two-mile exploratory well blew out. The IXTOC 1 accident is considered the world's second worst oil spill (the oil spill into the Persian Gulf as a result of the 1991 Gulf War is 1st) with 140 million gallons of oil released into the waters.

It took nearly 10 months for the responders to stop the oil from flowing in the IXTOC 1 accident. And this was a well that was in only about 164 feet of water. That allowed divers to be sent down to cap the well.

The Deepwater Horizon wellhead is under 5000 feet of water. That is nearly double the depth at which atmospheric diving suits and manned submersibles can operate.

http://www.npr.org/blogs/thetwo-way/...nt_for_ne.html