East Yard Communities for Environmental Justice info@eycej.org 323.263.2113

Extreme Energy Extraction

East Yard Communities for Environmental Justice has a subcommittee based out in our Long Beach membership called the “Oil & Gas Team” that focuses on:

(1) learning more about the status of various extreme energy extraction facilities in the region

(2) how it is affecting residents who live near these facilities

(3) how we can work towards shifting out of our extreme energy reliance into sustainable technologies.

In 2017, EYCEJ along with frontline community based organizations in Wilmington, Long Beach, Carson & big Green Organizations protested in Wilmington in place of the Climate March that normally occurs in Downtown Los Angeles. The march was attended by many across the Southern California region to protest the expansion of the Marathon (formerly Tesoro) facility.

People’s Climate March, 2017, Photography by Hannah Benet

The EYCEJ subcommittee has made a specialized curriculum for our Fighting for Life Academy 2.0 on Refinery Impacts of the Marathon (formerly Tesoro) Facility in Carson & Wilmington which is currently undergoing an expansion to make them the largest refinery on the West Coast. There has been an on-going campaign of educating our residents to understand the impacts of Marathon (formerly Andeavor, formerly Tesoro) sites & how we can get them to mitigate their emissions in our neighborhoods.

People’s Climate March, 2017, Photography by Hannah Benet

Over the years, community members have been able to research different aspects of the oil & gas industry through the Marina Pando Social Justice Research Collaborative. This has resulted in bike toxic tours to documenting and reporting incidents in order to continue to educate the community and to hold companies and regulating agencies accountable. 

In 2020, the EYCEJ subcommittee is working on using legal avenues to mitigate existing pollution at the Phillips 66 Refinery. The efforts are meant to be replicated to other facilities & get stronger enforcement and regulation by the South Coast Air Quality Management District. The goal of the Oil & Gas Subcommittee is to transition into a new economy and way of powering our communities to meet the needs of its residents without the cost of their health. The work is going to be a long fight and we will continue to educate, empower, & effect change in our communities until we no longer have to bear the impacts of all forms of extreme energy extraction.