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Berre Lagoon has been one of the main locations for oil refining in France since the interwar period. Oil expansion during the postwar caused conflicts with the fishermen during the fifties, and with unionists during the seventies. This article suggest that the ambivalence of contemporary bond to this territory can be understood by tracing the history of the stormy relations between the oil refining industries and the organization from the civil society, particularly since 1957, when a national law prohibited fishing to guarantee the oil industry’s use of the pond. This paper examines the way the oil industry relies on the administration and public policies to protect its image, and how environmental regulations gave oil companies the opportunity to let the public administration take over communication on industrial pollution.