By Liz Hampton

PORT FOURCHON, Louisiana (Reuters) – On Louisiana’s south coast, in a key port servicing the U.S. offshore oil industry, a huge shipyard sits idle and in tatters. Where parts of the nine-bay terminal’s roof once hung, only a tangle of twisted metal beams is now visible while a side of the building is caved in.

The destruction continues to be widespread, even though a massive recovery effort is underway, more than one month after Hurricane Ida struck Port Fourchon’s sprawling harbour. This is where Bayou Lafourche and the Gulf of Mexico meet. The giant containers are flipped over and the supply boats werehed up on shore, as utility trucks and workers to repair power lines line roads.

Operations at the port, which in normal times services the vast majority of oil produced in the U.S. Gulf of Mexico, ground to a halt after the storm hit in late August and currently are at about 60%, according to the port’s executive director, Chett Chiasson. He estimates that the port could remain at half capacity for six more months.

Port Fourchon’s destruction and surrounding communities highlight how vulnerable this energy hub is. It is also emblematic of the toll the industry is taking on Louisiana’s swampy coastline, according to some academics and environmentalists. The industry has not only brought economic benefits, but has also contributed to rising sea levels and more severe storms. It does this by extracting fossil fuel and also contributing to coastal erosion in the area through cutting canals that allow saltwater intrusion into the wetlands and killing off natural vegetation.

Some academics question whether efforts to fortify the port’s infrastructure and longer-running projects to shore up the coastline will be sufficient to avoid similar disasters happening again.

Torbjorn Tornqvist from Tulane University, a Tulane University professor of geology who is specialized in losses to wetland ecosystems, said that “the oil and gas industry” has caused a lot damage to the coast. A lot of the people who have close ties to the industry are those “that are among the most vulnerable in the country to climate change,” he said.

“The question is more ‘when’ than ‘if’,” places like Port Fourchon disappear, he added.

Chiasson, the public official in charge of the port, said he doesn’t agree as it relates to Port Fourchon. “Our resilient design structure, and the coastal investments near our port will keep us in tact and operating well in to the future,” he said.

The port’s executive director added that the oil and gas industry has played a critical role in helping restore coastlines and wetlands around Louisiana, including planting vegetation on newly built land, funding projects and assisting with modeling future coastal restoration projects using dredged material.

The industry’s representatives say that they will address the environment-related threats in their region. The Louisiana Oil & Gas Association (LOGA) said that during the five years through 2019 the industry provided $226 million to government agencies – in leasing fees and royalties from oil or gas sales – that was diverted to state and federal conservation projects. According to the association, other support was provided by the industry, including companies allocating land for flood control.

“Far from being the cause of wetlands loss, the oil and industry has led the way to address the issue,” said Mike Moncla, president of the association. Moncla stated that the association had donated more than $10,000,000 to relief efforts in local communities following Hurricane Irma.

A U.S. Geological Survey study published in 2000 found that oil and gas activities had contributed to more than a third of the state’s coastal wetlands loss – higher than any other factor. Louisiana’s oil and gas industry generated some $62.6 billion in revenues in 2019, according to the Louisiana Mid-Continent Oil and Gas Association, another industry trade group.

Numerous businesses claim they are still committed to the port. Edison Chouest Offshore is an offshore vessel operator. He was the owner of C-Port 2 (a nine-bay damaged shipping terminal) and did not respond.

‘HEART’ OF OFFSHORE OIL

Surrounded by gator-filled bayous, Port Fourchon is the state’s southern most port. The highway is elevated and two lanes high above the water. It connects to Port Fourchon with the closest town, about twenty minutes away.

Louisiana Legislature established the port in 1960. As deepwater exploration exploded, it became a crucial supply and services hub for oil companies.

The industry is important to the livelihoods of many people in Lafourche Parish, where the port sits. “Unless you’re a teacher, in some kind of way you’re related to the oilfield,” said 59-year-old Kenny Johnson, a captain on a towboat operated by a fuel distributor.

Port Fourchon was smashed by Hurricane Ida with sustained winds up to 150 miles an hour when it struck. According to Port officials, it was the strongest hurricane that had ever hit Port Fourchon since its inception. It also includes Hurricane Katrina that battered Louisiana sixteen years before but was ashore sixty miles east.

According to an offshore regulator, more than 95% of U.S. Gulf of Mexico’s oil production was temporarily suspended. Nearly a fifth (or 5%) of America’s oil comes from the Gulf, and it fuels both the production of transport fuels and plastics that are used in all manner of medical devices.

Even though it had been more than a month since the storm, thousands were still without power and some residents had no access to water or sewage. Many houses have roofs that are missing or damaged. Piles of insulation and household goods such as ceiling fans and chairs, are littered along the streets.

Houma is a nearby industry center that lies 60 miles away from Port Fourchon. Hangars at the city’s airport are covered in rubble. In late September, volunteers from outside the state gathered to see a baby alligator captured by locals.

A stronger infrastructure is being built in the vicinity of the port as part of the rebuild effort. From all over the country, linemen are flying in to replace power lines and utility poles that were damaged during the storm. Shipyards are being rebuilt and offices spaces renovated by companies. Port officials have been strengthening the buildings of municipal offices and are looking into building hurricane-resistant safe houses.

Stone Oil Distributor, LLC, replaced its crew quarters, dispatch offices, and office. Tony Odak, Chief Operating Officer of Fuel Distributor, stated that Port Fourchon was the center of the offshore oil business.

Chiasson is the director of port. He estimates that there were more than two-thirds of a billion dollars of damage to facilities located at the port.

LOST LAND

There’s also the cost to the environment. Chiasson estimated that approximately 60 sq miles of marshland had been lost at the eastern Bayou Lafourche.

“Hurricane Ida did a number on our marsh,” said Chiasson, who was raised in the area. “It chopped it up and we need to rebuild that because we’re now vulnerable for the next storm.”

According to the U.S. Geological Survey, Louisiana lost approximately 5000 km (close to 2,000 miles) of its coast wetlands in the last century. That’s an area about the size of Delaware.

Louisiana’s Coastal Protection and Restoration Authority has launched a series of restoration projects, worth tens of billions of dollars, to restore and protect the coastlines, including building marshes by dredging sediment and creating new lands by diverting river sediment.

However, river diversion projects may slow the land loss, although they could take many years or even decades to complete, according to Kevin Xu, an oceanography professor at Louisiana State University.

Local erosion is often blamed by some in the business. State senator Mike Fesi, who goes by “Big Mike” and whose district includes Port Fourchon, primarily blames wetland losses on levees built decades ago along the Mississippi River. These levees not only protected surrounding areas from flooding but also kept their banks from overflowing and naturally depositing sediment. The senator acknowledged some industry responsibility, but said that it was more than compensated by the financial support the industry provides to projects.

“A lot of people who work in oil live in this area,” said Fesi, who owns a Houma-based pipeline maintenance and construction firm that over the years has employed thousands of people in Louisiana. “They love this area and they want it to survive.”

Jerrett Webre, a Houma resident who has worked in oil and gas for his entire life, thinks that most people will continue to live there.

“They have bills to pay and that is their profession,” the 39-year old said. There is no other job for them unless they decide to join a plant or begin over.