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Environmental Impacts (Petroleum Industry in Mexico)
Beginning with the desire for gold and silver in the sixteenth century, both foreign and domestic powers have mined the landscape of Mexico for natural resources and precious goods with a primarily financial focus and not an environmental one. The original open pit mining for metals like iron had devastating impacts such as loss of mountain landscapes, toxic waste disposal, and the demolition of entire ecosystems. Native populations viewed this search for oil with disdain as it affected their agricultural way of life by removing cattle fields to make room for oil fields. With the onset of petroleum mining in the early twentieth century, environmental impacts escalated. While foreign powers were often successful in shaping the economic environment of the petroleum-containing countries they entered, they largely ignored the natural environment they would be affecting.

Although the most popular incident in the public's mind concerning oil accidents is the Deepwater Horizon Spill that occurred in the Gulf of Mexico in 2010, many incidents have occurred on the physical territory of Mexico. Rather than simply affecting marine life and bodies of water, petroleum and the materials used to harvest it can also have negative impacts on dry land. For example, hydraulic fracturing can damage water access for local populations and produce harmful chemicals that are leaked into the surrounding environment.

Since the initial surge of oil drilling in 1889, several accidents have occurred throughout mainland Mexico. In 1908, a fire at the Dos Bocas drilling site caused fear and panic among the residents of Tantima, the local village, as the explosion rocked the area. After burning for over a month and killing a small number of people, the Dos Bocas fire created a dangerous area that most residents avoided. Besides the rumors and superstitions that characterized the locals' discussion, the event had significant environmental impacts as well. Hydrogen sulphide gas had turned the previously vibrant area into a silent and dead expanse. The transition of the land from verdant to empty resulted in a negative opinion towards the petroleum industry in Veracruz. Other blowouts that followed the incident at Dos Bocas continued to damage the surrounding area's vegetation, wildlife, and general ecosystem. Often, these small-scale fires and spills are viewed as insignificant to the grander environment, which many believe can heal itself. However, the consequence of many small events, according to theorists, is a lasting impact that may not be curable.

Some researchers claim that the degrading infrastructure of many drilling sites in Mexico made areas unfit for habitation. The habitats in question include those used by animals, vegetation, and the human population of the area. The contamination of the ecosystem after drilling occurs often causes towns to lose residents or disappear entirely. Poza Rica, a typical oil town in Mexico, was the subject of a study that revealed the difficulties associated with living in an area dominated by petroleum drilling. The inhabitants of Poza Rica are constantly renegotiating their everyday lives to fit the changing landscape around them; this includes practicing large and small safety measures, ignoring toxic smells in the air, and recovering from the loss of jobs when oil fields are retired. Any area with drilling present became a town in which it was believed deadly accidents could occur. However, people often compromised to remain in their homes, ignoring or simply accepting the potentially dangerous side effects.

One way to analyze the presence of oil companies in places such as Veracruz is to see how the natives responded to outside forces that changed their way of life. The Huastecs, a native population in the area, fought to hold their traditional practice of agriculture when oil companies entered their homeland. The native population's land was often taken without respect for the centuries of native presence there, turning pastures and forests into oil camps. The natives viewed this change as an unhygienic and cruel transformation from forest to industry.