Wildlife, oil battle nothing new to Louisiana

An oil and gas terminal in the Delta National Wildlife Refuge

From Natalie Pawelski
CNN Environment Unit

DELTA NATIONAL WILDLIFE REFUGE, Louisiana (CNN) -- In the middle of this year's power crunch, one of the biggest debates is over oil drilling in Alaska's National Wildlife Refuge. But this federal wildlife sanctuary would not be the first opened to drilling. Several in Louisiana are attempting to mix nature preservation with energy production.

Alligators, birds and cypress trees are among the sights one would expect to see in a swampy national wildlife refuge. What one doesn't expect is a large drilling platform boring through the Earth in search of natural gas.

The unusual relationship between peaceful natural habitat and loud oil exploration machinery has led to explosive results. Energy representatives believe the two can exist side-by-side with no harm.

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"I just think that it's important, that we can drill on a refuge and have a safe operation, pollution free. It needs to be done. If we have oil and gas we need to go out and develop it and put it on the market," said Sterling Vaughn of Meridian Resource Corporation.

Others disagree.

"It comes down to the question, do you want a wildlife preserve or do you want oil and gas drilling? If you want a wildlife preserve, you really can't do it and have oil and gas, they're just not compatible," said Harold Schoeffler of the Sierra Club.

There are more than 500 national wildlife refuges across the country. The U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service allows drilling on a couple dozen, including Louisiana's Delta and Lacassine refuges.

Mineral rights privately held

As manager of the Delta refuge, Howard Poitivint collected user fees from drilling companies and used the money to restore habitat.

"I went to college to study wildlife management. I certainly didn't go to college to learn how to oversee an oil and gas operation on a refuge," he said.

"We've found a way to help mitigate or offset the effects of the oil and gas operations here. That doesn't mean that we haven't had some bad effects or bad results from some oil and gas operations. I think if we could just say no, we'd say no, probably. If we could just say no."

Refuge managers can't say no to drilling. For most of the refuge, the mineral rights are in private hands. The owners have the legal right to look for gas and oil.

For the rig Sterling Vaughn oversees, regulations and the company's goals call for zero pollution.

"To say we never have a leak, I guess you can never say that. We try to stay on top of things and monitor, and do the best we can," he said.

After the initial drilling, the big platforms are moved to new sites, leaving the refuges dotted with small well heads and large oil and gas terminals, the marshes cut by canals and crisscrossed by pipelines.

"I think that this reserve has pretty much been devastated. It's probably 10 percent of what it originally was in terms of wildlife habitat," said the Sierra Club's Schoeffler.

He's hardly a typical environmental activist. Schoeffler owns a Cadillac dealership, but is worried about pollution, and about dredging and erosion that's turned native marsh into open water.

"Some critters will live in it and occupy it. But it won't function to feed the fish that are living in the Gulf, or shrimp that are living in the coastal bays, or the oysters and everything else that depends on these natural systems for their livelihood," he said.

In hot, wet Louisiana, everything from trees to microbes grows quickly so scars on the land are usually quick to heal. Even so, hidden from view in some places, the wildlife refuges are forever changed by the hunt for energy.