Health & Place 8 (2002) 177–190 Community responses and coping strategies in the vicinity of a petroleum refinery in Oakville, Ontario Isaac N. Luginaah a, *, S. Martin Taylor b , Susan J. Elliott c , John D. Eyles c a Department of Sociology and Anthropology, University of Windsor, Windsor, Ont., Canada N9B 3P4 b Office of the Vice President, Research, University of Victoria, PO Box 1700, STN CSC, Victoria, BC, Canada V8W 2Y2 c School of Geography and Geology, McMaster University, Hamilton, Ont., Canada L8S 4K1 Abstract This paper investigates community perceptions of and coping responses to a petrochemical refinery in Oakville, Ontario. The analysis of in-depth interviews (n ¼ 29) revealed the effects of social and community factors on residents’ everyday life experiences of refinery emissions, and the factors that shape residents’ perceptions and responses after the refinery’s implementation of extensive measures to reduce emissions and odours. Overall, residents reported a reduction in odours from the refinery. While the refinery now poses a minimal or tolerable level of risk to some people in the community, it is still intolerable to others. The results show residents’ shifting concerns, with their fears now focused on invisible emissions. Residents continue to employ both action-focused and emotion-focused coping strategies. These findings suggest that refinery intervention may have to move beyond the focus on technological measures to reduce odours to address the psychological and social concerns of residents. r 2002 Elsevier Science Ltd. All rights reserved. Keywords: Petrochemical refinery; Environmental exposure; Community responses; Risk perception; Coping Introduction Studies of subjective assessment of environmental risk show that people focus on particular risks because of their attachment to place, beliefs, values, social institu- tions, and moral behaviour, not necessarily on the amount of danger actual or perceived (Douglas and Wildavsky, 1982). Further, social context is important, affecting how risk is socially constructed. In this regard, this paper examines residents’ responses and coping strategies in the vicinity of the Petro Canada refinery in Oakville, Ontario. Oakville (population 128,000F1996 census) was founded in 1827 on the north shore of Lake Ontario (Fig. 1). Residents value its small town heritage, and actively seek to preserve the quality of life in the community (DiManno, 1995). The refinery, located in west Oakville and now operated by Petro Canada, was built in 1958 and produces fuels, lubricant oils, and industrial asphalt. The refinery has the capacity to process up to 13,000 cubic metres of crude oil per day. It occupies 120 ha to the south west of Bronte Creek. Residential areas are found within 1 km of the plant stacks to the east, southwest, and south. New housing development close to the refinery in recent years has increased the potential effects of emissions on the health and well-being of local residents. Community concerns about the refinery have existed for many years and grew as residents became increas- ingly worried about the potential health effects of refinery emissions. The growth in community concern paralleled the apparent worsening of odour incidents in the community. This culminated in the organization of grass roots community groups and the formation of an Environmental Advisory Committee, now known as the Community Advisory Committee to Petro Canada (CAC-PC, 1997, 2000), to help manage the situation. The increasing community concerns led to a community *Corresponding author. Tel.: +1-519-253-3000; fax: +1- 519-971-3621. E-mail address: luginaah@uwindsor.ca (I.N. Luginaah). 1353-8292/02/$ - see front matter r 2002 Elsevier Science Ltd. All rights reserved. PII:S1353-8292(01)00041-7