>H.W., and others, are either injured or killed as a result of
>the drilling. Then there's the environmental impact.
>
>Mary is beaten because of her father's religious beliefs.
>
>Presumably, Plainview would justify any harm caused by the
>drilling as what must be done.

You have to look beyond the harm that comes to HW, because Planview's "house" was much bigger than that. His 'family' was his company and everyone on its payroll... and he brought harm to them in exchange for profit. I mean look at the single minded hunger of the very opening scene ... this dude willingly brings it upon himself if he thinks he can squeeze a buck out of it.

As for "environmental impact", I think that blame would fall on Sunday's shoulders. Because what need would Daniel Plainview have for environmentalism? He's just in it for the oil. Sunday, on the other hand, had a ranch, a family, and a church community. But he sold it all to Plainview, because he figured that's probably what God wanted him to do, and as a result, everything went to shit.

And really, Sunday wasn't taking care of business like he should have been even before Daniel Plainview ever showed up. Why was this lazy bastard content to go without bread? His land was bearing no fruit, just goats (I'm sure there's some symbolism there, too)... If Plainview could bring irrigation to the land, why couldn't Sunday have done the same?