Content area
Full Text
Nat Hazards (2014) 74:19111932
DOI 10.1007/s11069-014-1280-7
ORIGINAL PAPER
Duane A. Gill Liesel A. Ritchie J. Steven Picou
Jennifer Langhinrichsen-Rohling Michael A. Long
Jessica W. Shenesey
Received: 7 October 2013 / Accepted: 4 June 2014 / Published online: 25 June 2014 Springer Science+Business Media Dordrecht 2014
Abstract We address the research question: Did the 2010 BP Deepwater Horizon oil spill have similar psychosocial impacts as the 1989 Exxon Valdez oil spill? We answer this question by comparing survey results from a random sample of Cordova, Alaska, residents collected 18 months after the Exxon spill with a random sample of residents in the Alabama coastal counties of Baldwin and south Mobile 1 year after the BP disaster. Analysis revealed similarly high levels of psychological stress for survivors of both disasters. For residents of coastal Alabama, the strongest predictors of psychosocial stress were exposure to oil, ties to renewable resources, concerns about their economic future, worries about air quality, and safety issues regarding seafood harvests in oiled areas. Differences between south Mobile and Baldwin counties were related to the former communitys economic ties to renewable resources and Baldwin Countys dependence on tourism for economic sustainability.
Keywords Technological disaster Oil spill Psychosocial stress BP disaster Exxon
Valdez oil spill
1 Introduction
This article extends research on psychosocial effects of the 2010 BP Deepwater Horizon oil spill on coastal Alabama residents in terms of how these impacts compare to those measured in Cordova, Alaska, after the 1989 Exxon Valdez oil spill (EVOS) (Gill et al. 2012). That research collected survey data from residents of south Mobile County 5 months after the Deepwater Horizon drilling rig exploded and sank in the Northern Gulf
D. A. Gill (&) L. A. Ritchie J. S. Picou J. Langhinrichsen-Rohling
M. A. Long J. W. Shenesey
Oklahoma State University, Stillwater, OK, USA e-mail: [email protected]
The Exxon and BP oil spills: a comparison of psychosocial impacts
123
1912 Nat Hazards (2014) 74:19111932
of Mexico.1 Like Cordova, most communities in south Mobile County, particularly Bayou La Batre, are classied as a renewable resource community (RRC)one whose primary cultural, social, and economic existences are based on the harvest and use of renewable natural resources (Picou and Gill 1996:881). The 2010 survey measured psychological stress and traumatic reactions to the...