Accumulating Trouble: Complex Organization, a Culture of Silence, and a Secret Spill

Over a period of thirty-eight years, Unocal Corporation spilled as much as 20 million gallons of petroleum into Central California's Guadalupe/Nipomo Dunes fouling the ground water, the beach, and other habitat producing what may be the largest petroleum spill in United States' history. A whistleblower finally reported this spill in February of 1990, which led to the shutdown of their oilfield, fines, and criminal charges. Through the analysis of oilfield social and organizational dynamics, this article makes three interrelated contributions to current understandings of hazard creation and response and organizational deviance. First, it builds on and extends research on “man-made disasters.” I argue that commonplace social and organizational structures, combined with equally unremarkable, yet incrementally cumulative petroleum spillage to produce a remarkable outcome—millions of gallons of petroleum contamination. Second, in addressing the social dynamics at the oil field, I develop the theoretical concept of a culture of silence to capture the collective secrecy that surrounded the spill once the local workgroup recognized the danger it presented to their ongoing organizational viability. Finally, an understanding of these social and organizational dynamics suggests significant policy ramifications concerning the viability of current industrial self-regulation as a strategy for monitoring environmental compliance.