10 biggest oil spills
Ten Largest Oil Spills in the U.S. Updated February 11, 2017 | Infoplease Staff. The following table lists the largest oil spills in U.S. history. The date of the spill, circumstances surrounding the spill, and amount of oil spilled are also given. Rank Date Cause Source Location Spill Volume; 1. The main cause of the oil spill was an unexpected explosion during operation of Ixtoc 1 Oil Well on June 1959. The explosions exploded the main valve of the well. The destruction was severe so that for 10 months the oil well remained leaking and spilling all the content to the Gulf of Mexico. The 10 biggest oil spills - 5 Atlantic Empress. Since the dawn of modern oil exploitation in the 19 th century, a sad but inevitable truth has rung true: accidents happen and oil spills.