Black Gold of Paradise: Negotiating Oil Pollution in the US Virgin Islands, 1966–2012 (October 2019)
In 1966, North American oilman Leon Hess built a large petroleum refinery on the south shore of St. Croix, in the US Virgin Islands. Once expanded in 1975, the refinery became the largest in the world and provided decent-paying jobs to local and immigrant workers and filled government coffers with tax revenue. Environmental protection measures loomed large in the agreement to build and expand the refinery, but such safeguards did not prevent pollution. The refinery destroyed the territory’s largest mangrove forest, fouled coastal waters, contaminated groundwater, and sent clouds of carcinogens into neighboring communities. This article argues that the government of the US Virgin Islands viewed the south shore as a sacrifice zone, an area where severe environmental degradation was an acceptable tradeoff for economic progress. Hess took advantage of this attitude and was able to get away with heavy pollution so long as the worst offenses were contained within the south shore industrial zone or towed offshore. For a time, this strategy worked to satisfy many residents and government officials, who valued the economic benefits that refining brought. However, after the turn of the century, the refinery’s reputation soured. Its environmental footprint widened as accidental releases of airborne pollutants that engulfed nearby communities became more frequent. Then, in 2012, Hess Corporation closed the refinery, eliminating all of its benefits. These concurrent developments led many US Virgin Islanders to reconsider their cost-benefit accounting, as it became apparent that the refinery’s extensive environmental costs were more enduring than its economic benefits.
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