Who Destroyed the Marsh? Oil Field Canals, Coastal Ecology, and the Debate over Louisiana’s Shrinking Wetlands

Abstract

Abstract This paper examines the environmental history of petroleum pipeline canals and their impact on wetland loss in Coastal Louisiana, and how politics and wetland science have shaped restoration efforts over time. Since the 1930s, Coastal Louisiana’s wetlands have provided America with abundant oil and gas resources. The expansion of this vital energy production and transportation corridor, however, has come with a huge environmental price tag, one that will persist for generations, long after the hydrocarbons are depleted. Louisiana has the world’s seventh largest wetlands and produces the lion share of America’s domestic oil production. Yet Louisiana’s wetlands are disappearing and have been for sometime, along with the habitat, wildlife, culture, and traditional socio-economic activities that is unique to the region. Most of this loss has occurred between the 1950s and late 1970s, the era of intense petroleum production. The reasons for this high loss rate are complex and unique, involving a mixture of both natural and human-induced changes over time. Scientists argue that one of the major causes of this wetland loss has been the long-term direct and indirect impacts of oil-led development, namely the construction of pipeline, access, and navigation canals through the marshes, barrier islands, and bays. The energy and environmental tradeoffs have been particularly challenging given the enormous oil resources produced in the region over the decades and because of the Mississippi Delta’s complex geologic structure. Understanding how the two have interacted over time raises important questions about ecological restoration and the long-term impacts of energy production on fragile landscapes.