Port Arthur merits more than promises
Alleged benefits of XL Pipeline are pure fantasy
The notion that the Keystone XL pipeline project will create and protect jobs, as President Donald Trump likes to proclaim, is a myth that will likely come to an end in Port Arthur. If completed, the southern line of the 1,179-mile pipe will end in this city an hour and a half east of Houston, which has been forced to endure the broken economic promises and health impacts of living next door to refineries for decades. Although the pipeline’s completion is sure to cause a surge in demand for oil refining, there’s zero evidence that the project will magically restore jobs or otherwise revitalize this overburdened community. If the historic record is any guide, residents of Port Arthur can expect the exact opposite: further declines in employment, health and property values.
Hurricane Harvey provided a tragic reminder of the high cost of oil and gas expansion for communities like Port Arthur. In the current age of climate denial, the Trump Ad-
ministration is seeking to roll back important environmental rules that protect communities most impacted by pollution and climate change.
Refineries owned by Motiva and other companies in Port Arthur released tons of air pollution during emergency shutdowns for the storm. An explosion and fire at the Valero refinery on Sept. 19, for example, released thick black clouds of toxic pollutants and forced local residents to stay indoors during a “shelter in place” order. Gov. Greg Abbott made matters worse by waiving pollution reporting requirements.
Port Arthur is a city that has been left behind by the industry that occupies its front yard. The three refineries here — owned by Motiva, Valero and Total — and nearly a dozen nearby petrochemical facilities have done nothing to stabilize the city’s economy or otherwise improve residents’ lives. Local elected officials lure industry to the area with lucrative tax abatements and other incentives, in exchange for largely empty promises to hire locally. Meanwhile, residents continue to see little to no improvement in their circumstances. The unemployment rate in Port Arthur is more than twice national and state averages.
The unemployment rate has remained stubbornly high despite the fact that capacity at the refineries has increased 85 percent since 1990. Due to increased automation at refineries, increased capacity no longer necessarily leads to job creation. The value of goods and services produced by the fossil fuel industry has increased from $120 billion in 1998 to $818 billion in 2014, according to the Bureau of Labor Statistics. Unfortunately, none of this has spurred job growth. In fact, the number of jobs within the industry has declined by 30 percent since 1990.
Increased refinery capacity and output does, however, lead to significant health risks. Cancer rates for African-Americans in Jefferson County, which includes Port Arthur — where blacks make up a plurality of the population — continue to be significantly higher than the overall cancer rate in Texas. Equally troubling is the fact that the cancer mortality rate for blacks in Jefferson County remains 40 percent higher than the state average.
Many are concerned that air pollution is at the root — or is at least a major contributing cause — of cancer among Port Arthur’s residents. “I’d have to think hard to come up with a family who hasn’t lost a loved one — and I mean recently lost a loved one — to cancer here,” says Hilton Kelley, a long-time resident and activist.
The air pollution data is worrisome. From 2012 to 2016, state records indicate there were 230 unpermitted emission incidents from the three refineries in Port Arthur, many of which released air pollutants, including benzene, that are known carcinogens.
Should the Keystone XL pipeline be completed, Port Arthur’s refineries will again expand their capacity to meet the new demand. Given the Trump Administration’s attempt to roll back important environmental protections, I cringe to think what awaits Port Arthur: more cancer, more asthma and more economic and racial injustice.
The pipeline’s beneficiaries will not be the residents of towns like Port Arthur; they will be oil and gas companies already flush with profits and hungry at the prospect of making even more money thanks to their ever-deepening ties to the White House. President Trump and EPA Administrator Scott Pruitt share a baseless view that environmental protection is incompatible with economic progress. It’s a mindset that, if they get their way, will turn the clock back 50 years when it comes to protecting public health — and will leave Port Arthur suffering from the fallout.