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December 16, 2024

Demanda Impugna Ampliación de Almacenamiento de Petróleo en el Puerto de Long Beach

Grupos toman medidas para detener la construcción de tanques de petróleo cerca de escuelas y comunidades agobiadas por la contaminación

Contacto de Prensa

Alejandro Dávila-Fragoso, [email protected]

Gissela Chavez, [email protected]

Los Angeles, CA-

Earthjustice, representing and co-advising Communities for a Better Environment (CBE), today sued the City of Long Beachfor approving a controversial crude oil storage project at its port.

The project, proposed by World Oil Terminals, includes the construction of two 25,000-barrel tanks, exacerbating environmental and health damage for environmental justice communities already suffering from industrial pollution from the second-busiest port in the United States. Long Beach is also home to hundreds of thousands of Hispanics, who are one of the largest ethnic groups in the city.

In November of this year, the Long Beach City Council rejected an appeal and allowed the project to move forward.

"The Port of Long Beach promotes itself as a 'green port' and recently withdrew funding for fireworks events citing environmental concerns, but gave the green light to this harmful project," said Oscar Espino-Padrón, an attorney with Earthjustice. "We are taking legal action to demand better outcomes for communities who have long been trapped in a deadly web of oil infrastructure, subjecting them to elevated risks of cancer, toxic fumes, and chemical fires."

The lawsuit challenges the city's certification of an Environmental Impact Report that failed to adequately assess the project's cumulative environmental damages, ignored feasible alternatives and underestimated the risks it poses to public health and safety. The oil tanks, proposed to be built a half-mile from the schools, are expected to emit hydrogen sulfide, benzene and other volatile organic compounds (VOCs) that contribute to smog formation and have been linked to leukemia cases. According to some studies, including one by the South Coast Air Quality Management District, regulators and the public are not given enough information regarding emissions from oil and gas storage tanks.

"As a Long Beach resident and having grown up in South Gate, it is frustrating to see my elected officials expand crude oil infrastructure in communities that are already severely overburdened, while claiming to uphold environmental protections," said Dilia Ortega, director of special projects at CBE."Councilwoman Suely Saro and Mayor Rex Richardson have the opportunity to stand up for public health and safety by stopping harmful projects like this one. We urge them to stop this crude oil project, support a moratorium on fossil fuel infrastructure expansions at the Port of Long Beach, and protect the health of the residents who elected them."

The lawsuit comes at a time when residents of Wilmington, Carson and West Long Beach are already facing:

• High cancer risk rates. In fact, they have the highest cancer risks in the region.
• Toxic air pollution from diesel trucks, locomotives and California's largest refinery.
• Safety risks, such as explosions, fires and dangerous spills, are recurring incidents.

"This project is not only unnecessary, it is reckless," said Aleja Cretcher of CBE."The Port of Long Beach is approving a project that contradicts the goals of the state, the city and the port itself to transition away from fossil fuels. Instead of protecting vulnerable communities, the City Council and the mayor are allowing polluters to continue harming them with industrial pollution." 

Sobre Earthjustice

Es la organización de derecho ambiental sin fines de lucro más importante del país. Desde nuestra fundación en 1971, nuestro litigio ha enfrentado a empresas con criminales niveles de contaminación y a instituciones gubernamentales, logrando un gran número de protecciones básicas para las personas y el planeta. Lea más acerca de Earthjustice.