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| 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.”
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| 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:
