Building Community Resilience to Large Oil Spills: Findings and Recommendations from a Synthesis of Research on the Mental Health, Economic, and Community Distress Associated with the Deepwater Horizon Oil Spill

Finucane, Melissa L.; Clark‐Ginsberg, Aaron; Parker, Andrew M.; Becerra-Ornelas, Alejandro U.; Clancy, Noreen; Ramchand, Rajeev; Slack, Tim; Parks, Vanessa; Ayer, Lynsay; Edelman, Amanda F.; Sayers, Elizabeth L. Petrun; Nataraj, Shanthi; Bond, Craig A.; Lesen, Amy E.; Ferreira, Regardt J.; Drakeford, Leah; Fiore, Jacqueline; Weden, Margaret M.; Venable, Kristen Brent; Black, A. Barrie

doi:10.7249/rra409-1

Cited by 9 publications

(13 citation statements)

References 73 publications

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“…The DWH spill resulted in numerous socioeconomic impacts, including effects on the fishing, tourism, and transportation sectors, and others that may affect community vulnerability and resilience. Similar to investigations related to human health impacts, GoMRI supported research on DWH socioeconomic effects but at comparatively modest levels, with resulting publications constituting only approximately 6% of total GoMRIfunded publications and about 4.2% of total competitive grant funds awarded (Petrolia, 2014;Finucane et al, 2020a). While much progress has been made in longitudinal monitoring of biophysical parameters, there is a lack of similarly robust efforts to monitor a suite of socioeconomic variables that could be used to assess the value of non-market resources, or identify cultural attributes, attitudes, social connectivity, or resilience in an oil spill or other disaster context (NRC, 2013;Yoskowitz et al, 2015).…”

Section: Socioeconomic Impacts On Fisheries Tourism and Communitiesmentioning

confidence: 94%

“…Human impacts of oil spills are much less studied than environmental impacts (Murphy et al, 2016), physical health effects are better researched among spill workers than in other populations (Laffon et al, 2016;Eklund et al, 2019), and mental health distress is better researched among community residents (Finucane et al, 2020a). Many, if not all, of the health effects noted for workers probably also apply to the general population that may be exposed, although the magnitude of the exposures may be considerably greater for workers.…”

Section: Health Effects On Non-workersmentioning

confidence: 99%

“…Evidence for mental health distress associated with the DWH oil spill is mixed (Finucane et al, 2020a). Two large, population-based surveys in the Gulf Coast region suggest only modest or minimal changes in mental or behavioral health-at the aggregate levelbefore versus after the DWH spill (Gould et al, 2015).…”

Section: Health Effects On Non-workersmentioning

confidence: 99%

“…Resilience is "the capacity of a system to absorb shocks and disturbance and still maintain function" (Berkes and Folke, 1998), or "the capacity of a socialecological system to adapt to change through self-organization and learning" (Berkes et al, 2003). Finucane et al (2020a) examined a set of adaptive capacities that may diminish impacts of an ecological disaster like the DWH, finding that although the spill resulted in differing economic impacts across fisheries, tourism, and oil and gas sectors with location, the aggregate impacts were primarily short term. However, at the household level, and particularly in poorer households, financial impacts were still being felt years later.…”

Section: Community Resilience Impactsmentioning

confidence: 99%

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Human Health and Socioeconomic Effects of the Deepwater Horizon Oil Spill in the Gulf of Mexico

Sandifer¹,

Ferguson²,

Finucane³

et al. 2021

Oceanog

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The Deepwater Horizon (DWH) oil spill is the only declared Spill of National Significance in US history, and it significantly impacted the health of people and communities in the Gulf of Mexico region. These impacts amplified adverse effects of prior disasters and may compound those of future traumas. Studies, both to date and ongoing, show some negative mental and physical health outcomes associated with DWH in some spill workers, as well as some coastal residents in all Gulf States. The spill was also associated with negative effects in the living resources, tourism, and recreation sectors, at least in the short term. Compared with others, people dependent on these sectors reported more health and financial concerns. Consumer concerns about the safety and marketability of seafood persisted well after data demonstrated very low risk. Parents were concerned about possible exposures of children as they played on beaches, but this risk was found to be minor. Spill-related stress was an overarching factor associated with adverse health outcomes, and some residents reported greater stress from navigating the legal and claims processes following the spill than from the spill itself. Research revealed a serious lack of baseline health, environmental, and socioeconomic data against which to compare spill effects. This finding highlighted the need for ongoing observing systems to monitor health and socioeconomic parameters and establish continuous baselines of such information.

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Section: Socioeconomic Impacts On Fisheries Tourism and Communitiesmentioning

confidence: 94%

Section: Health Effects On Non-workersmentioning

confidence: 99%

Section: Health Effects On Non-workersmentioning

confidence: 99%

Section: Community Resilience Impactsmentioning

confidence: 99%

See 2 more Smart Citations

Human Health and Socioeconomic Effects of the Deepwater Horizon Oil Spill in the Gulf of Mexico

Sandifer¹,

Ferguson²,

Finucane³

et al. 2021

Oceanog

Self Cite

View full text Add to dashboard Cite

show abstract

“…A community leader expressed concern that the initial symptoms after the Gulf Oil Spill represented the “tip of the iceberg” with greater problems yet to come. In a recent RAND report (Finucane et al, 2020), mixed mental health symptoms following the Gulf Oil Spill were cited. The RAND report cited that large‐scale surveys by SAMHSA and the CDC noted limited increases in mental health symptoms and substance abuse following the Gulf Oil Spill.…”

Section: The Impact Of Hurricane Katrina On Children and Familiesmentioning

confidence: 99%

Hurricane Katrina and the Gulf Oil Spill: Lessons learned about short‐term and long‐term effects

Osofsky

2020

Int J Psychol

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The impact and lessons learned from Hurricane Katrina and the Gulf Oil Spill are described as an example of work done reflecting best practices and theory to gain a better understanding of risk and resilience for children and families. Hurricane Katrina, described as the worst natural disaster in the US history, resulted in traumatic separations of children and families and devastation of communities and schools. The impact was greater on families with fewer resources before the hurricane who were provided limited support to return and rebuild. Insufficient community support and economic resources contributed to prolonged traumatiaation and slow recovery. Many were still recovering from Hurricane Katrina when impacted by the Gulf Oil Spill. For families with multigenerational ties to the fishing and oil industries, the Gulf Oil Spill resulted in both cumulative trauma and increased risk. In implementing the behavioural health response, much was learned about promotive and protective factors for individual and community resilience. Services provided following the disasters were based on precepts of individual, family, and community resilience. To enhance recovery and support resilience, the development of regional coalitions across at risk areas provides important coordination before disasters occur for better preparation and response.

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Risk factors for acute mental health symptoms and tobacco initiation in Coast Guard Responders to the Deepwater Horizon oil spill

Wang

Denic-Roberts

Goodie

et al. 2022

Journal of Traumatic Stress

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Acute mental health symptoms experienced during oil spill response work are understudied, especially among nonlocal responders. We assessed potential risk factors for acute mental health symptoms and tobacco initiation among U.S. Coast Guard responders to the 2010 Deepwater Horizon (DWH) oil spill who completed a deployment exit survey. Cross‐sectional associations among responder characteristics, deployment‐related stressors (deployment duration, timing, crude oil exposure, physical symptoms, injuries), and professional help‐seeking for stressors experienced with concurrent depression/anxiety and tobacco initiation were examined. Log‐binomial regression was used to calculate adjusted prevalence ratios (aPRs) and 95% confidence intervals. Sensitivity analyses excluded responders with a history of mental health conditions using health encounter data from the Military Health System Data Repository. Of the 4,855 responders, 75.5% were deployed from nonlocal/non‐Gulf home stations, 5.8% reported concurrent depression and anxiety, and 2.8% reported the initiation of any tobacco product during oil spill response. Self‐report of concurrent depression and anxiety was more prevalent among female responders and positively associated with longer deployments, crude oil exposure via inhalation, physical symptoms and injuries, and professional help–seeking during deployment, aPRs = 1.54–6.55. Tobacco initiation was inversely associated with older age and officer rank and positively associated with deployment‐related stressors and depression/anxiety during deployment, aPRs = 1.58–4.44. Associations remained robust after excluding responders with a history of mental health– and tobacco–related health encounters up to 3 years before deployment. Depression, anxiety, and tobacco initiation were cross‐sectionally associated with oil spill response work experiences among DWH responders, who largely originated outside of the affected community.

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Building Community Resilience to Large Oil Spills: Findings and Recommendations from a Synthesis of Research on the Mental Health, Economic, and Community Distress Associated with the Deepwater Horizon Oil Spill

Cited by 9 publications

References 73 publications

Human Health and Socioeconomic Effects of the Deepwater Horizon Oil Spill in the Gulf of Mexico

Human Health and Socioeconomic Effects of the Deepwater Horizon Oil Spill in the Gulf of Mexico

Hurricane Katrina and the Gulf Oil Spill: Lessons learned about short‐term and long‐term effects

Risk factors for acute mental health symptoms and tobacco initiation in Coast Guard Responders to the Deepwater Horizon oil spill

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