Report Disputes Blue Marlin Oil Export Project’s Benefit to Texas Communities  

PORT ARTHUR, Texas — A report published today by Port Arthur Community Action Network (PACAN) and Earthworks finds that Jefferson County, Orange County, and Cameron Parish would receive little economic benefit from the Blue Marlin Offshore Port, a proposed offshore oil export project. The report comes as the Maritime Administration completes the final environmental impact statement for the project, which will initiate a public comment period.

The report, “Would the Blue Marlin Offshore Port Deliver on the Local Benefits it Promises?”, reviewed the Maritime Administration and U.S. Coast Guard’s draft environmental impact statement of the project and other sources and found:

• The project would only create 39 jobs over the project’s 25-year period, with no guarantee to hire these workers from local communities. 
• The potential for oil leaks and spills from the project could result in economic damages to the communities.
• Blue Marlin could cause communities to lose tax revenue that could be used to support public services, if they apply for tax abatements.
• The harm from the production of crude oil to be exported by the Blue Marlin terminal is estimated at a social cost between roughly $998 million to $2.37 billion. The end use, or combustion, of this exported crude oil would incur a social cost ranging from $11 billion to $37.5 billion.

“Why would you support a project when there’s no direct benefit you’re going to see from it?” said John Beard Jr., Port Arthur resident, founder and CEO of PACAN. “This project has received endorsements, yet projects like these are why people in our communities are being displaced.”

Blue Marlin would construct a 42-inch crude oil pipeline under the Neches River, around Bessie Heights Marsh and under the center of Sabine Lake. The pipeline would connect to the existing Stingray Pipeline in Johnson Bayou, Louisiana, and run into the Gulf of Mexico, where an offshore port capable of filling up supertankers would be built.

“This report adds to growing evidence that oil export projects do more harm than good,” said Allison Woolverton, report author and campaign manager at Earthworks. “Communities shouldn’t have to keep risking their health and their homes just so billionaires can make more money.”

Blue Marlin is one of four offshore oil and gas export terminals proposed off the coasts of Texas and Louisiana. Despite the Trump administration’s best efforts to boost fossil fuels, other oil export projects are facing challenges in securing buyers and becoming financially viable. United States production of oil and gas is already at a record high, and global demand for fossil fuels is expected to peak in the next five years. 

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