A Greener Wilmington... Coming Soon!

Another refinery explosion. Another flaring incident. Another industrial project polluting our air. We are used to hearing the bad news, but things are starting to look up for Wilmington.

California took the lead in combating global warming with landmark legislation called AB 32, passed in 2006. AB 32 requires a sharp reduction in greenhouse gas emissions to move towards a sustainable, low-carbon future. In 2010, Wilmington oil refiners Valero and Tesoro spent millions of dollars to place an initiative, Proposition 23, on the statewide ballot that would have suspended AB 32, not just for the oil industry but for all industries. They wanted to kill AB 32 rather than spend their profits on upgrading their facilities to pollute less. We were at the forefront of this battle, with a statewide coalition of organizations including Communities for a Better Environment and the Greenlining Institute, leading multiple demonstrations at the refineries.

Big Oil’s Prop. 23 got clobbered that year, but the oil lobby hasn’t given up. Happily, neither have those working to clean our air.

To reach AB 32’s goal of cutting carbon pollution, the state implemented a cap-and-trade program, which limits the toxic emissions a company can put into the air and charges polluters for the damage they cause. The cap on emissions will decline each year, causing the cost of pollution to go up. The money raised from those polluter fees goes into a fund that helps pay for clean energy, energy saving and other programs that help clean our air. It’s critical that this money – and the projects it funds –go to places like Wilmington that need it urgently.

And it will, thanks to  a new piece of legislation called SB 535. SB 535 requires that at least 25% of all cap-and-trade revenues be invested in the state's most polluted and environmentally burdened communities. This year alone nearly $270 million in funding is available, the largest pot of money ever given for environmental justice, and that amount will grow over the coming years

That $270 million is going to support renewable energy, affordable housing near public transit, low-carbon transportation, and urban greening. For the first time in history, our communities will get real help to counter the history of low income communities being used as toxic dumping grounds. Not only do the refineries finally have to pay for the damage they have done to our community, the money will go into programs that are already creating good jobs and changing lives for the better.

The bad news is that the polluters haven’t gone away. They’re still trying to weaken and even kill AB 32, and take away the best hope that’s come along in years for communities like Wilmington.

To make sure they don’t succeed, The Greenlining Institute created a new website, UpLiftCA.org, to tell the story of how California’s smart climate policies are helping real people in real neighborhoods around the state. Please check it out, sign up to receive updates, and tell your friends.

You might also want to contact the legislators who represent Wilmington in Sacramento and let them know you support AB 32 and California’s effort to fight climate change:

Assemblymember Mike A. Gipson, district 64: (916)223-1201 or use https://lcmspubcontact.lc.ca.gov/PublicLCMS/ContactPopup.php?district=AD64

Senator Isadore Hall, III, district 35: (916) 651-4035 or use http://sd35.senate.ca.gov/contact

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.

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.)

Nuclear Plant Possibly Restarting Despite Needing Repairs

San Onofre Nuclear Generating Station (This is a file from the Wikimedia Commons)

A nuclear plant about 50 miles away from Wilmington residents is gambling with the safety of millions of lives by proposing to restart despite it needing $317 million in repairs.

The San Onofre Nuclear Generating Station (SONGS) is a nuclear power plant located on the Pacific coast of California near San Clemente.

The plant was shut down in January after discovering a small radioactive steam leak at one of its two reactors that indicated accelerated degradation of tubes in the plant's new steam generators, reported Reuters.

Last month the owner submitted an experimental plan to restart one of its reactors, Unit 2. The leak occurred in the Unit 3 reactor, which is closed indefinitely.

Edison has topped $317 million in repairs and their efforts to restart the reactor faces opposition from environmental groups and community members who say the plan could endanger eight million nearby residents.

Community members and environmentalist are demanding a public hearing and the Los Angeles City Council has until this Friday to act before the year is through to urge a resolution.

“Edison is pushing hard to get Nuclear Regulatory Commission (NRC) approval for what amounts to a reckless experiment with the lives and livelihoods of the 8.4 million people who live within 50 miles of San Onofre,” said Damon Moglen, energy and climate director for Friends of the Earth.

“This critical matter should not be considered in another informal meeting, in which the audience is silenced and removed from the real process despite their demands for independent public input and oversight,” he said in a press release. 

Environmentalist are demanding this matter be considered in NRC proceedings to examine the dangers this can pose to many families.

In the event of a massive accident or a natural disaster that harshly impacts the reactors at this plant a big population of Los Angeles would be put at risk. Parts of L.A. are within the 50 mile radius that NRC recommended be the evacuation zone after Fukushima Daiichi Nuclear Power during last year’s tsunami. 

When Japan was hit by the deadly tsunami farms up to 90 miles away from the Fukushima plant were tainted with dangerous levels of radioactivity.

A massive nuclear accident in Southern California can cause long-term radiation in contamination well beyond the 50-mile radius as proven in Japan.

Wilmington residents along with other L.A. community members are asked to contact their councilman or councilwoman and President Wesson with their support for the Koretz/Rosendahl resolution on San Onofre safety. To contact Councilman Joe Buscaino who represents L.A.'s 15th council district click here to voice your concerns.

What does Environmental Justice mean to you?

Communities for a Better Environment (CBE) is a social justice organization. CBE organizes in working class communities of color because those communities suffer the most from environmental pollution. To watch the entire film, visit: CBEcal.org

Communities for a Better Environment Wilmington.

Communities for a Better Environment Facebook page.  

Air Pollution is Linked to Heart Attacks

"Environmental Justice is about the place we live, work, and play."

Robby Rodriguez

Yesterday, NPR reported that the Heart Associated has made a connection between air pollution and heart attacks. Air pollution has already been linked to many other health problems. The American Heart Association reviewed several studies from the last six years. From the research, the AHA concluded that air pollution can cause a heart attack as well as many other heart problems. Scientists believe that when air pollutants are inhaled, they cause inflammation in the lungs, and set off a series of negative changes in the body.   

"We can say for (the) first time that the evidence is consistent enough now to say that there's a causal relationship between air pollution exposure and cardiovascular disease," says Dr. Robert Brook cardiovascular specialist and professor at the University of Michigan in Ann Arbor. "We have a greater number, quality and depth of epidemiological studies that show stronger linkage than we previously thought."

The closer you are to a source of pollution, the more likely you will be affected. The people with the highest risks are the elderly and those with heart conditions, but it can harm anyone:

Air pollution can trigger heart attacks even in seemingly healthy adults, says Brook. "Even if they otherwise are healthy, a short-term exposure over a few hours or over a few days is able to cause instability and then trigger heart attacks or strokes," he says.

The study can be found here.

The fight for Environmental Justice is very important, especially in low-income, communities of color like Wilmington. This is where most people suffer from health problems because of pollution, but do not see the benefits of the industrial economy. To find out what you can do about air pollution in our community, visit Communities for a Better Environment in Wilmington.

CBE offers toxic tours that inform and educate the public about how they can protect their health.     

The Next toxic tour is:

Saturday, May 15th

Questions? contact: Darryl Molina; 323.826.9771 x 102

Reservations and information: dmolina@cbecal.org