Government, Industry, and Environmental Sacrifice: A History of Louisiana Oil and the Deepwater Horizon Disaster

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The Deepwater Horizon oil spill is one of the most notorious environmental disasters in recent history. The post-disaster images of seabirds smothered in mud-like oil serve as a visceral reminder of the damage the fossil fuel industry is doing to the planet. Many of us have lingering questions: why did it happen, who is to blame, and was it avoidable? This article addresses these questions by putting the Deepwater Horizon disaster into a broader historical context. This will be done through the examination of the formation of the Chemical Corridor, an industrial complex along the Mississippi River stretching from Baton Rouge to New Orleans. Moreover, this article will investigate the Louisiana oil industry and state government during the twentieth century to shed light on the practices, culture, and environmental consciousness leading up to the disaster. Ultimately, it considers whether the recent history of the accident is destined to repeat itself.

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British Petroleum’s (BP) Deepwater Horizon oil rig exploded on 20th April 2010. Over 87 days, this disaster released 518 million litres of oil into the Gulf of Mexico. Barataria Bay was amongst many regional coastal wetlands that sustained severe and detrimental pollution due to the oil spill. The bay was coated in a mud-like oil-water emulsion that suffocated vegetation and wildlife. The most impactful long-term consequence of the oil spill was marsh erosion. This was caused by a dramatic increase in the population of carbon-eating microbes after huge quantities of carbon were deposited into the ecosystem by oil. As a result, the carbon-rich organic matter that binds the marshes together was destroyed. It is estimated that five square kilometres of Barataria Bay’s marshland was lost as a consequence of the Deepwater Horizon disaster. [1]

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The substantial loss of marshland habitat devastated regional wildlife. Amongst all the wildlife affected by the spill, ants and oysters have fared the worst. Ecologists observed evidence of malnutrition in ant populations in the post-disaster period. This was attributed to damaged vegetation, which depleted the ant’s food source. Five years after the disaster, ant populations had only recovered to ten per cent of their pre-spill size. Similarly, regional oyster farmers recorded “one of the lowest lows” in the oyster population in the years following the disaster due to pollution. After five years, the Louisiana oyster population had only recovered twenty per cent of its pre-spill size.[2]

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With this environmental damage in mind, it is worth investigating who is accountable and what role BP played in the lead-up to the disaster. Statements from BP officials in the wake of the Deepwater Horizon oil spill reveal that the corporation had viewed the Gulf of Mexico as a sink for industrial waste for several years. This apathy towards ecological damage created inconsistent enforcement of environmental safety procedures within the corporation that increased the probability of massive pollution.[3]

Moreover, when retracing oil industry practices throughout the twentieth century, it becomes apparent that the Deepwater Horizon disaster is part of a longer history of sustained petrochemical pollution from the chemical corridor. This pollution is a result of state-permitted corporate blindness towards the environmental consequences of pollution and has existed since the opening of the first oil refinery.

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The image above shows the first oil refinery of the Chemical Corridor. The Exxon Mobile, formerly Standard Oil, refinery was launched in 1908, in Jennings Field, Baton Rouge. After the refinery’s economic success, the Louisiana government created tax exemptions for the construction of refineries. This led to an oil boom in Louisiana that lasted until 1929. However, this introduced new oil refineries into environments more vulnerable to the harms of pollution. [4]

World War Two increased the demand for oil causing a second boom in Louisiana's oil industry. However, this second wave of unrestricted growth caused rampant pollution and destruction to the surrounding environment. This issue arose due to the industry’s understanding of the environment. Oil corporations understood the Mississippi River to be an “inexhaustible flushing system” that would remove all industrial waste into the Gulf of Mexico, an environment considered too large to damage.[5] Here, we can see the foundation of the mentality that was present within BP during the Deepwater Horizon disaster.

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The practice of discharging wastewater into the Mississippi was banned in the 1950s. This was due to a growing recognition that the river’s ability to flush waste was being overwhelmed, leading to detrimental localised pollution. [6) As a result, wastewater had to be stored in pits, as seen in the image above, before being buried. In 1979, an environmental report conducted by Shell, one of Louisiana's largest oil refiners, concluded that several wastewater disposal pits were not in compliance with state regulations. Despite this, the report reasoned that no action should be taken as there was no economic incentive to maintain the pits [7] Within the historiography, this practice is known as a sacrifice zone- the willing destruction, or sacrifice, of the environment for economic benefit.[8] This example shows that the Louisiana oil industry, and to a wider extent fossil fuel capitalism, are consciously negligent when following environmental regulations. This logic of sacrifice and culture of negligence made an environmental disaster highly possible, perhaps even unavoidable.

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Likewise, the state government was equally negligent in enforcing environmental regulations. According to historian Jason P. Theriot, Louisiana's state government was unwilling to regulate the oil industry due to the economic benefits it provided to the state. Additionally, Louisiana's second largest sector, agriculture, was benefitting from petrochemical pollution. This was because oil corporations were compensating local farmers for crop contamination. As pollution was so extensive, the majority of Louisiana farmers’ income was derived from this compensation. Consequently, the state was content with maintaining the status quo while its principal industries were profiting from polluting practices. The proximity of polluters and agricultural producers can be seen in the image above.[9]

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Beginning in the 1970s, Louisiana residents realised the dangers caused by a lack of environmental regulation within the oil industry. At the start of the decade, it was discovered that waste from oil refinement had been polluting drinking water with carcinogens. In retaliation, environmental organisations began protesting for the proper storage of petrochemical waste. Overall, the discovery of carcinogens and environmental organisation action resulted in the Safe Drinking Water Act in 1974- the first substantive legislative attempt to regulate water pollution. [10]

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However, the Safe Drinking Water Act only intervened in the refinement process. In 1990, the Oil Pollution Act was passed to ensure that the government would also oversee the extraction of crude oil.[11] Despite the government's efforts, in 1997, 142 million pounds of petrochemicals were dumped into the Mississippi River.[12]

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In all, The Deepwater Horizon disaster was a result of Louisiana's century-long Laissez-faire, non-interventionist, economic policy. Starting in the 1900s and persisting into the 2010s, the state government prioritised economic benefits over environmental regulation. Moreover, it failed to enforce laws and comply with regulations. As a result, the Louisiana oil industry developed a culture of complacency regarding environmental safety practices. Ultimately, this nullified legislative attempts to reduce pollution and the risk of disaster. Since April 2010, there have been numerous smaller oil spills in Louisiana: in 2014, 2015, 2019 and 2021. As recently as November 2023, 1.1 million gallons of oil leaked into the Gulf of Mexico from a pipeline.[13] Regulatory reforms will continue to make no impact while the state is unwilling to enforce them, and fossil fuel capitalism is consciously negligent. Until the Louisiana state government is willing to make economic sacrifices, it seems that the recent history of the Deepwater Horizon disaster is doomed to repeat itself.

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Written by Isaac Purcell

 

References

[1] Warren Cornwall, “Deepwater Horizon After the Oil: Five years on, the world’s largest accidental marine spill has left subtle scars on the Gulf of Mexico,” Science 348, no. 6230 (April 2015): 22-26.

[2] Ibid., 24-29

[3] Craig. E. Colten, “An incomplete Solution: Oil and Water in Louisiana,” The Journal of American History 99, no.1 (June 2012): 92

[4] Craig E. Colten, “The Rusting of the Chemical Corridor,” Technology and Culture 47, no.1 (January 2006): 95-96

[5] Colten, “An Incomplete Solution,” 93-94.

[6] Ibid., 96.                                                                                                                        

[7] Jason P. Theriot, “Oilfield Battleground: Louisiana’s Legacy Lawsuits in Historical Perspective,” Louisiana History: The Journal of the Louisiana Historical Association 57, no.4 (Fall 2016): 444.

[8] Colten, “An Incomplete solution,” 91-92.

[9] Theriot, “Oilfield Battleground,” 442.

[10] Colten, “An Incomplete solution,” 97-98; Theriot, “Oilfield Battleground,” 446.

[11] Stephen Haycox, “Fetched up: Unlearned Lessons from Exxon Valdez,” The Journal of American History 99, no.1 (June 2012): 228.

[12] Colten, “Chemical Corridor,” 99.

[13] Darryl Fears, “Oil spill tops 1 million gallons, threatens Gulf of Mexico wildlife,” The Washington Post, November 21, 2023; LOSCO Spill Response Records, Louisiana Oil Spill Management System, Date accessed: 7th July 2024, https://data.losco.org/PublicSpillSearch/PublicSpillResponseSearch