On 3 June 1979, the well suffered a blowout and is recognized as the second largest oil spill and the largest accidental spill in history.
So was the largest spill on purpose if it wasn't accidental?
So was the largest spill on purpose if it wasn't accidental?
Note that that spill was about 3x larger than even the Ixtoc I spill. The scale is nearly incomprehensible.
"American airstrikes on January 26 destroyed pipelines to prevent further spillage into the Persian Gulf"
In response to the "Citation needed", a little Lexis searching returned a March 22 article from the Washington Times that lists the airstrike as January 27: "Jan. 27: U.S. aircraft fire at oil facilities in Kuwait to end the pumping of crude into the Persian Gulf."