Social and economic impacts of petroleum boom and bust' cycles. Final report

This report focuses on the effect of petroleum production in the Gulf of Mexico on social problems, educational attainment and strain, and community economic health on parishes in Louisiana. The parishes studies vary in degree of involvement (highly or minimally involved) and type of involvement (extraction or related activities such as refining, metal fabrication and wholesaling) in petroleum production. The findings suggest that petroleum production in the Gulf of Mexico affects social problems, educational attainment, educational strain, and community economic health, In addition, the influence depends on both the degree and type of involvement. Mitigation recommendations include data collection, impact monitoring, sharing of information about potential impacts with community residents, counseling and treatment programs, and the expansion of government assistance and programs that help citizens cope with impacts.