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Sociocultural and psychosocial impacts of the exxon valdez oil spill: Twenty-four years of research in Cordova, Alaska

2016; Elsevier BV; Volume: 3; Issue: 4 Linguagem: Inglês

10.1016/j.exis.2016.09.004

2214-7918

Duane A. Gill, Liesel A. Ritchie, J. Steven Picou,

Risk Perception and Management

This article documents 24 years of social science research on sociocultural and psychosocial impacts of the Exxon Valdez oil spill (EVOS) on the community of Cordova, Alaska. This study began in August 1989 and officially ended in 2013—making it the longest running study of a technological disaster in U.S. history. We followed a longitudinal field experiment design using Petersburg, Alaska as a control community. Our research utilized a mixed-methods approach that included document review, observations, interviews, and surveys. Serial cross-sectional community surveys were used and we developed a panel design for surveys of commercial fishermen and Alaska Natives. Inquiries into sociocultural and psychosocial impacts of the EVOS were guided by theories and concepts emerging from studies of numerous technological disaster events. These included ecological symbolic theory; renewable resource community; conservation of resources theory; recreancy; corrosive community; individual, collective, and secondary trauma; lifestyle and lifescape change; social capital theory; and contextual constructivist approaches to risk. Results focus on four areas: event-related psychosocial stress as measured by the Impact of Event Scale; litigation impacts; resource loss; and beliefs about recreancy. Findings document acute and chronic psychosocial stress within the community and identify involvement in litigation, resource loss, and perceptions of recreancy as significant contributors to high levels of stress. Further, the loss of the herring fishery has had adverse economic and sociocultural effects on Cordova that may persist.