The 1989 Exxon Valdez oil spill and the 2010 BP oil spill were the largest and most ecologically damaging releases of oil in North American history. This research provides a comparison of the social and mental health impacts of these two major technological disasters. Random samples of residents of Cordova, Alaska, and south Mobile County, Alabama, were collected 5 months after each event. A standardized indicator of event-related stress was used for both samples. The analysis revealed similarly high levels of initial psychological stress for survivors of both disasters. The strongest predictors of stress were family health concerns, commercial ties to renewable resources, and concern about economic future, economic loss, and exposure to the oil. Drawing on more than 20 years of research on the Exxon Valdez disaster, we discuss implications for residents of Gulf Coast communities.

Conceptual and empirical research on technological disasters has produced a number of seminal contributions including concepts of recreancy, collective trauma, lifestyle and lifescape change, corrosive community, secondary trauma, and the ecological-symbolic perspective. This article presents social capital theory as a comprehensive framework that incorporates and integrates these key conceptual elements and theories. After presenting fundamental elements of social capital theory, we demonstrate how key concepts in technological disaster research relate to social capital. We conclude that while social capital theory has merit and potential for improving our understanding of all disaster events, it is particularly useful in comprehending the multifarious impacts of technological disasters.

In 1993, Freudenburg suggested the term “recreancy” to refer to behaviors associated with institutional failures, which he distinguished from the consequences of such failures. This article revisits issues related to recreancy associated with the 1989 Exxon Valdez oil spill. Using qualitative data collected in Cordova, Alaska, between 2002 and 2010, we examine notions about recreancy and technological disasters. Findings highlight perceptions of institutional failures associated with the spill and cleanup activities, providing insights into the social consequences of such failures for those most directly affected by them, including loss of ontological security, the emergence of corrosive communities, and diminished social capital. We extend the discussion about recreancy to include organizational processes intended to address economic, social, and environmental consequences of technological disasters. Our data reveal a persistence of beliefs about recreancy associated with the Exxon Valdez oil spill and the subsequent litigation, and their consequences for long-term community impacts.