Nationwide Coast-to-Coast Climate March: Why Launch from Wilmington?

The 3,000-mile Great March for Climate Action will launch March 1st from the Los Angeles Harbor Area. Sherry Lear, San Pedro soccer mom, writes on the history of the community that has experienced debilitating effects from fossil fuel development, explaining why it’s a perfect place to march en masse for clean energy solutions. More Information: http://xmw.r.mailjet.com/redirect/d4cchq3hlsggt89n37ng00/j.mp/GreatMarchWU

Wilmington/Carson have the highest concentration of oil refineries in the state – a perfect place to march for clean energy and healthy communities. Photo: World Architecture

Why March in Wilmington?

By Sherry Anne Lear

On March 1, 2014, the Port of Los Angeles will be home to the Kickoff and Rally for the Great March for Climate Action, the largest coast to coast environmental march in US history. Originally, March organizers wanted to start their march in the iconic beach town of Santa Monica, CA. Local environmental activists convinced the organizers they should instead start the march in the Port of Los Angeles, home to a number of major oil refineries where over 650,000 barrels of crude are refined every day. The Port of Los Angeles is the major economic generator for Southern California and is also a major source of pollution, not just because of the business of refining itself but due to the numbers of vehicles coming in and out of the Port every day to keep it operating.

To their credit and to the gratitude of those of us who live in the Port area, the organizers of the Great March for Climate Action (GMCA) agreed to change their opening day plans and this historic event has now been moved to the Wilmington Waterfront Park. After a press briefing and rally starting at 8:30 a.m., marchers will head out at10:00 a.m. for a 17.5 mile trek to USC/Exposition Park Area. This change is not without downside for the GMCA. Many Los Angelenos don’t even know where Wilmington is located. This port community has no major public transportation outlet, leaving those who want to avoid traveling by car with the prospect of getting to Wilmington by bus, which can be a two-plus hour trip. Although very historically significant to the development of Los Angeles, Wilmington has no major tourist attractions and no shopping malls.

Why begin the Great March for Climate Action in the Port of LA? Wilmington has the largest concentration of refineries in the state, where over 650,000 barrels of crude are refined every day. Pollution also comes from oil drilling, ports, and diesel trucking.

All of these are only part of the reason those who care about climate change, environmental justice and the future of our planet should make the effort and undergo the inconvenience of joining the GMCA, So Cal Climate Action Coalition 350 and its regional partners, and the residents of the Los Angeles Harbor to change the hearts and minds of America and its elected leaders to act NOW to address the climate crisis.

History of Wilmington

Phineas Banning, Father of the Harbor

Wilmington, which is part of the City of Los Angeles, is a port community known as the “Heart of the Harbor.” Wilmington dates its history back to a 1784 Spanish land grant. In 1843, at the age of 13, Phineas Banningwent to work in his father’s Philadelphia law office. By 21, Banning left his East Coast home, sailed to Panama, crossed the jungles by mule and canoe, and then sailed 3,000 miles north and ended up landing at the shallow San Pedro Bay.

Soon after his arrival, Banning got into the business of staging and freighting, often driving six-horse stages over twenty miles. At this time, Los Angeles had no large river or deep water harbor. Banning had the vision to foresee a future in an area of mud fields and ultimately obtained the approval and funding to create the Port of Los Angeles, constructing the first breakwater and dredging the harbor.

LA Harbor in 1913, from Water and Power

Without Banning’s foresight and perseverance, the City of Los Angeles as we know it today, would not exist. Originally known as “New San Pedro,” Banning named the town “Wilmington” in 1863 after his Delaware birth place. Banning is rightly known as the “Father of the Harbor.”

The City of Los Angeles, in recognition of the economic potential of the Port, annexed Wilmington and San Pedro in 1909, promising residents millions in investments in the Port and public improvements in their city. To this day, there are those in the Harbor who wish the vote had gone the other way.

Wilmington Today

Like neighboring San Pedro, Wilmington is a close-knit community where families have resided for many generations and Wilmington residents have a great sense of pride for their home town. Wilmington covers 9.14 square miles, features a heavy concentration of industry, and is home to over 54,000 people. Latinos made up 86.6% of Wilmington’s population, while 44.5% of its residents were born abroad. Approximately 5.1% of Wilmington residents aged 25 or older had a four-year degree in 2000 (a low figure when compared with the city and the county at large) and the percentage of those residents with less than a high school diploma is also higher than the rest of Los Angeles. Wilmington is home to 12 elementary schools, seven middle schools, four high schools (including Banning High School), 11 preschools and two community colleges (both public and private).

Residential housing next to oil refinery at Wilmington. Wilmington has one the highest risks of cancer due to it’s proximity to the Ports of Los Angeles and Long Beach, and the several oil refineries in the vicinity. Los Angeles, California, USA (Photo by Universal Images Group via Getty Images)

Wilmington is adjacent to the Wilmington Oil Field, discovered in 1932, the third largest oil field in the continental United States. Oil pumps dot the city, found in playgrounds, parking lots and church grounds. Wilmington is the home to four major oil refineries with two additional refineries bordering Wilmington to the north in the City of Carson and six petroleum industry bulk loading terminal facilities in the local area. Many of these facilities date back to the original oil strike. Refineries in Wilmington process close to 250,000 barrels of crude every day. As expected, many Wilmington residents work in the Port of Los Angeles. It is, in every sense of the word, a blue collar community.

Before and After the development of the park, which served as mitigation for a recent port expansion.

The Waterfront Park – An Exercise in Persistence

The Wilmington Waterfront Park is literally “across the street” (i.e. Harry Bridges Blvd.) from the bustling activity and multi-story cranes that operate 24 hours a day in the Port of Los Angeles. The park serves as a “buffer” area between Port operations and residential communities which dot “C” Street. It will be the gathering site of the LA Launch and Rally of the Great March for Climate Action on Saturday, March 1.

The original plan for the site was to put up a large wall on vacant land owned by the Port of Los Angeles. After years of activism, the people of Wilmington were able to convince the Port with the help of environmental groups like NRDC and Communities for a Better Environment, to construct a 30-acre park, which includes green space, picnic areas, a playground, water play spaces and fountains, restrooms, bike racks, pedestrian bridges, event plazas, viewpoints and trails for walking and biking. The before and after are pictured here. The Wilmington Waterfront Park is part of a series of improvements which have been made in the Los Angeles Harbor area, including the Fanfare fountains at San Pedro, a process which will continue for many years.

Wilmington: a Model for Environmental Injustice

The port community of Wilmington, along with nearby San Pedro and the Cities of Carson and Long Beach face very real issues with air quality and other pollutants due to Harbor activities. The ports of Los Angeles and Long Beach are sources of diesel and fugitive emissions from bulk transport activities by trucks, rail and ship.

Wilmington and nearby communities are known as “cancer alley” because of the high concentration of cancer, heart disease and asthma. Local teachers report that up to 25% of students suffer from asthma (compared to 9.5% nationally per the CDC). Wilmington residents suffer in disproportionate amounts from health issues, including asthma attacks and breathing problems, caused by toxic releases from refineries in their communities, some of which are located less than one mile from public schools and public housing. Because Wilmington is a lower-income community, these problems are often ignored or go unreported in main stream media. Yet, they persist.

Valero Energy seeks permits for large-scale shipments of low-quality tar sands oil via rail into their Port of Los Angeles refinery [now on hold]. As part of a larger move to transport climate-disrupting unconventional crude to ports for refining and export to the world, it presents dangers given recent rail accidents, the corrosive nature of tar sands bitumen, and the significant pollution that surrounding communities already live with. Read More…

Of course, air quality and health issues are not just limited to Wilmington and the Harbor area. Numerous health studies, including a decade-long study by the South Coast Air Quality Management District, have shown that residents near major roadways and ports suffer more severe health problems than people who live elsewhere. Children have a greater risk of impaired lung function; babies are more likely to be born prematurely or with lower weights. Near major transportation routes, the risk of cancer is higher due to diesel exhaust and other air contaminants. Around the world, fine particles generated by vehicles and industry have been linked to increased deaths from heart attacks and lung diseases.

Living next to refineries and oil infrastructure makes expansion in shipping and refining corrosive sulfur-rich tar sands bitumen particularly more dangerous.

It is a reality that the poor and people of color find themselves living near these toxic areas. About 56% of the nine million Americans who live in neighborhoods within three kilometers of large commercial hazardous waste facilities are people of color, according to a 2007 environmental justice report by the United Church of Christ. In California, this number is 81%. Poverty rates in these neighborhoods are 1.5 times higher than elsewhere.

Of course, toxic pollution from oil refineries doesn’t stay outside; it seeps into homes, where people spend most of their time. Each year, pollution from ships, trucks and trains that move goods through the Port of Los Angeles region contributes to an estimated 2,100 early deaths, 190,000 sick days for workers, and 360,000 school absences, according to the California Air Resources Board. In other words, communities like Wilmington are literally paying – sometimes with their lives – for our fossil fuel addiction.

While California is moving toward more renewable energy, there is little chance that the refineries in the Ports of Los Angeles and Long Beach are going to close or slow down any time soon. Petroleum based fuels still account for over 90% of the State’s transportation needs. With the recent energy boom in North American brought on by fracking for natural gas and the processing of tar sands oil, California is now exporting dirty fuels overseas even as our state builds more and more solar and wind powered plants to fuel our own homes.

If we are really serious about our demands that we move away from fossil fuels and to clean energy, then we need to go directly to those communities most directly affected by our short-sighted energy policies and be willing to literally get “in the face” of those companies that are hurting the most vulnerable members of our community. That is why Wilmington is the perfect place to start the Great March for Climate Action. Standing in front of palm trees on beach full of tourists isn’t going to cut it. We must do more.

My Personal Plea

Many in the environmental community come from more affluent areas that don’t suffer from the air quality and health issues that those of us who live in the Harbor face every day. Some of my activist friends drive expensive hybrid or electric cars and enjoy expensive organic produce. In the meantime, my son has developed asthma since we moved to San Pedro. No one on either side of our family has a history of asthma. Climate change for my family is, indeed, personal.

Don’t get me wrong, I love my community. But we can’t keep fighting big oil and the energy industry alone. We need help. I have gone to many rallies all over Los Angeles and, finally, it is time for the environmental community to come en masse to the Harbor and stand up for Clean Energy and Against Dirty Fossil Fuels. So, please join the people of the Los Angeles at the March 1 Kickoff and Rally for the Great March for Climate Action. You won’t regret it. And the residents of Wilmington, San Pedro and surrounding communities will thank you.

Sherry Lear is an attorney with a practice focusing on real estate matters in Torrance, CA. She is also a soccer mom to a 10-year-old boy and has rescued two senior dogs who are now spoiled rotten. In her free time, she works on environmental issues and is a member of So Cal Climate Action Coalition 350, Sierra Club, and Tar Sands Action Southern California.

Toxic hotspot law requires Wilmington refinery to notify residents of potential cancer risk

Poster boards of facility risk assessment were displayed for public to read.
(Photo by Anabell Romero)

Air pollution agency South Coast Air Quality Management District (SCAQMD) hosted a public meeting Thursday night along with Phillips 66 refinery to inform residents of a state air pollution regulation law that was violated by the Wilmington refinery.

The meeting room at Banning’s Landing was filled with community residents, environmentalist, AQMD officials and refinery workers.

The purpose of the meeting was to provide details on the possible health risk, which state law known as Assembly Bill 2588 (AB2588), requires that facilities notify nearby residents of potential effects caused by toxic air pollutants released in the air. The goal of the toxic hot spot law is to collect facility’s emissions data, identify localized impacts to determine health risks and to inform the public of such findings.

Based on the facility’s emissions and calculated risk, people living in the area would have their chances of getting cancer increased by a maximum of 23.2 chances in a million.  People who work in the area of impact would have their chances of getting cancer increased by a maximum of 6.6 chances in a million over a 46-year lifetime, according to the summary health risk noted on the public notice. 

The AB2588 law demands that notification to the public is made when facilities that emit air pollution cause a cancer risk or other health threats above certain levels, which Phillips 66 exceeded. In this case refinery officials said they mailed out two notices in English and Spanish informing residents of the public meeting.

“This is taken extremely seriously,” said refinery manager Chris Chandler. “We work very hard to get zero penalties.”

This is a facility risk map determining what parts of the neighborhood are
mostly impacted by air pollutants released by Phillips 66. 

Both AQMD and refinery officials gave a presentation on a risk assessment explaining the dangers of being exposed to emissions such as higher cancer risk, which they presented being a result of these three main compounds; diesel particulate, 1,3-butadiene and polycyclic aromatic hydrocarbons.

Environmental activist expressed discontent with the assessment and demanded that a better evaluation be made to determine how many cases of cancer and other related illnesses already exist amongst Wilmington and nearby neighborhoods.

“We the public had to get assemblyman and other senators to vote and approve AB2588, every refinery was against 2588, not one supported it when it went before assembly committees,” said long-time environmental activist, Jesse Marquez.

Despite public comments scheduled to the end of the meeting, many concerned residents could not help but interrupt the presenter to ask pressing questions of their findings.

“I think it’s up to us, the community, to make sure that there is a fair study and that there is no bias,” said 39-year-old Wilmington resident Arturo Gonzalez. “I think their needs to be a neutral party.”

A map was shown to illustrate the homes mostly impacted by the refinery, which includes a large part of Wilmington.

Refinery officials also took the time to briefly comment on the September 15 incident where black smoke hovered above local neighborhoods as a result of burn-off caused by a power outage, which required the refinery to shut down for a few hours.

Until this day many residents remain unclear of the incident and are oblivious on whether it had any direct health impacts on the community.

Although attendees were appreciative of officials hosting the public meeting many residents continue to be concerned of how properly the refineries are being ran and whether AQMD is doing enough to ensure that not only Phillips 66 is being monitored but also other industry in Wilmington.

Resident Angela Ingalls shared her thoughts on the meeting, watch here:

Air Quality Agency Presented a Rule to Discover What Chemicals are Used in Oil Production

Oil being pumped out on L Street and
Avalon Boulevard near homes, businesses and a
school across the street. (Photo by Anabell Romero)

Long awaited measures to control the types of chemicals used in an oil drilling technique called hydraulic fracturing were presented yesterday by the government agency, South Coast Air Quality Management District (AQMD).

Concerned Wilmington residents ranging from environmental activist, seniors, high school students and overall frustrated community members expressed discontent with the agency's delay in evaluating environmental and health impacts these practices have had on the neighborhood.

“This rule goes further than what any other agency is doing,” said Susan Nakamura, planning and rules manager at AQMD.

The proposed rule 1148.2 would require prior notification and reporting of chemicals used when hydraulic fracturing is conducted.  This would help determine if existing AQMD regulations adequately cover oil and gas production activities when conducting hydraulic fracturing, also commonly referred to as fracking. 

Officials of the air quality agency said when their governing board adopts this rule, reporting of these potentially dangerous chemicals used in fracking will begin 90 days after date of approval. The members of their governing board consist of supervisors and council members of Los Angeles County, Riverside County, Orange County, South Pasadena, Rolling Hill Estates and other regions.

The time frame AQMD proposed was of two years to determine what and if any chemicals in oil related production are polluting the air and affecting the health of thousands of residents.

Alicia Rivera, environmental activist and 
community organizer, addressing her concerns 
to the AQMD panel. 
(Photo by Anabell Romero)

“A two-year period is too long, it should be shorter,” said Alicia Rivera, environmental activist and community organizer from Communities for a Better Environment. “An environmental impact report should be conducted before, if not this allows expansion and drilling operations…damage has already been done for years.”

The agency responded by stating that this first step is required to move forward and that perhaps it takes less than two years.

A report by the Natural Resources Defense Council (NRDC) on risk of fracking in cities like New York found that it, “generates massive amounts of polluted wastewater that threaten the health of our drinking water supplies, rivers, streams, and groundwater.”

The report also states that, “the rapid expansion of natural gas drilling across the nation endangers human health and the environment.”

Wilmington resident and neighborhood council member, Sylvia Arredondo, asked the agency if when this process was completed how they were going to hold these companies accountable for possibly endangering the health of thousands in the community.

She suggested fining them and proposed that these companies take care of cost associated with medication for illnesses caused or aggravated by air pollution like asthma and cancer.

“We can’t negotiate way more than my agency will allow me to say,” said Nakamura.

Since the PowerPoint presentation addressed by AQMD took less than 30 minutes attendees at the meeting were given more than an hour to speak their concerns and share personal experiences of how unregulated practices by industry in Wilmington has directly impacted their lives.

“People continue dying daily,” said Maria Ramos, an elderly resident who spoke Spanish with her soft and emotional tone. “If we were rich and comfortable we wouldn’t be living here, but this is a poor community.”

Throughout the meeting residents continuously thanked AQMD for coming to Wilmington and for their efforts in adopting new rules to better control polluters in the neighborhood.

“This room should be filled,” said 39-year-old resident Arturo Gonzalez. “Rise up people!”

The agency said they were committed to creating better outreach strategies to ensure that more residents are informed of these public meetings.

Residents proposed AQMD return in six months to provide an update of this rule. Nakamura said she would address everyone’s concerns to her governing board and maybe host another meeting in six to nine months.

Click here to see an interactive graphic that simplifies what fracking is. To report complaints of air polluters in Wilmington call 1-800-CUT-SMOG (1-800-288-7664) 

(A Wilmington youth speaks out during a public meeting hosted by South Coast Air Quality Management District (AQMD) and shares her experience of how pollution in her neighborhood has dramatically impacted her.)

New research reveals health effects caused by diesel particulates

Dr. John Froines giving his presentation on the
health effects caused by diesel.
(Photo by Anabell Romero)

A doctor and professor at UCLA revealed new research on the health effects caused by diesel particulates Wednesday night. Community members, environmentalist, health experts and government agencies all gathered at the Banning Senior Citizen’s Center to listen to Dr. John Froines speak about his shocking findings.

He started off by stating that 50-60 years ago America’s views on pollution were completely different and very limited.

“It was thought that air pollution was the result of backyard barbecues,” said Froines.  

As more research on air pollution has been conducted studies show that, “the underlying basis for health effects are from airborne particulate matter (PM) and vapor co-pollutants,” said Froines.

There has been speculation that Southern California’s air quality is gradually improving, but according to Froines, that is false.

“There have been no improvements,” he said, “It’s worse!” Some of the health illnesses he listed as a result of PM, which is found in diesel fuel are:

• Asthma
• Problems of lung growth in children
• Atherosclerosis, which is hardening of the arteries. It occurs when fat, cholesterol, and other substances build up in the walls of arteries and form hard structures called plaques.
• Lung and possibly bladder cancer
• Uptake and chronic inflammatory effects in the Central Nervous System (CNS)

Other illnesses he mentioned were Alzheimer, as well as the increased chances of premature births.

He said these particulates are as tiny as the size of a virus. People exposed to PM are not only inhaling it but the invisible poison also travels through human pores he said.

“Particulates can travel to the brain, not only the lungs and heart,” he added. He continued to emphasize on pollution being a, “very complex issue.”

He said, “for diseases and illnesses to occur there needs to be chemistry at the outset and downstream with proteins and DNA.”

The Solution to pollution

The solution is finding something other than diesel said Froines.

Now that the research is there to prove how harmful it is to be exposed to high levels of diesel the federal government needs to regulate the amount of emissions that are released in the air, he said.

After Froines’ talk a panel of health experts and government agencies discussed some of the work they’re doing to develop a solution for this fatal problem.

A representative from the air division at the US Environmental Protection Agency, Dr. Kim Hoang, said that, “everything at the federal level takes years to develop…five to 10 years from now we will see all those studies being considered.”

The public was not very happy to hear that.

A Long Beach community resident demanded that government agencies do something about holding the ports, railroad companies, trucking companies and other polluters accountable for the damage they’re doing to the health of residents in nearby neighborhoods.

Carmen Rivera from Long Beach sharing her experience of
living in neighborhood highly impacted by air-pollution.
(Photo by Anabell Romero)

“The ports want to do all these new projects, like the railyard, behind our homes,” said Long Beach resident Carmen Rivera. “You the agencies have the power to help us and say no to their absurd projects.”

There was also discussion about zero-emission technology available to replace current diesel fueled machines and trucks.

“Zero-emission freight technology is the solution and we need to pursue them,” said Dr. Joseph Lyou from South Coast Air Quality Management District.

The meeting ended with public comments and community members demanding that the government do something about this now and not five or 10 years from now.

It is not fair for residents to continue fighting with industry about these issues, if there’s probable risk then it needs to be banned, said an attendee at the meeting.