A postcard view (ca. 1910) of an open-air oil storage lake near Beaumont, Texas. Large-scale
oil production of that era commonly exceeded the capacity to store the produced oil in available
wooden tanks or barrels. The oil was then stored in large, generally unlined, pits or lakes formed
by raised earthen dams, some of which were covered with wooden planking. As can be imagined,
these caused considerable surface and ground water pollution and also posed a constant fire
hazard from sparks, careless cigarettes, or lightning strikes.

© Peter A. Scholle, 1999

 

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