Do you live near a hazardous industrial site in L.A. County? How to find out
-
Click here to listen to this article - Share via
See more from the L.A. Times in Google Search. Set us as preferred
In the wake of the multi-day chemical crisis in neighboring Orange County, Los Angeles County has launched an online map to let people know whether they live or work near an industrial or waste site.
The map, released Friday by the L.A. County Department of Public Health, shows the location of more than 6,000 active or idle oil wells, as well as 1,300 industrial facilities, “some located in and around residential and community areas,” the agency said.
Also included are the sites of underground gas storage facilities, refineries, fuel terminals, legacy pollution sites, active industrial sites, landfills, dumps and recycling centers.
Aerospace plants and oil and gas facilities dot the landscape in California, but it is easy for many people to be unaware of them.
“Communities should be able to easily see clear information about what is in their neighborhoods,” said Barbara Ferrer, the director of the Department of Public Health. “This tool brings multiple sources of information together so people can better understand what may be affecting their health, make informed decisions, and support community planning that benefits everyone in the county.”
In response to questions from The Times, the O.C. Healthcare Agency said it did not dispute statements that vapors were released from the pressurized tank on May 21.
Developed by the county’s Office of Environmental Justice and Climate Health, the map can be found at tinyurl.com/industrialmap.
The tool’s rollout comes after the threat of a chemical tank explosion in Orange County transfixed Southern California over Memorial Day weekend.
Although disaster was ultimately averted in that case, Southern California has previously faced similar threats.
In 2015, there was an explosion at an Exxon Mobil refinery in Torrance. No one was seriously hurt, but it had the potential to be catastrophic because of the presence of a highly toxic chemical on-site that can penetrate skin, officials said.
The same year, a blowout began at the Aliso Canyon SoCalGas natural gas storage well near Porter Ranch. It ultimately lasted 112 days; sickened thousands with headaches, nosebleeds and nausea; and temporarily forced 8,000 families from their homes.
And in 1989, thousands had to flee when poisonous chlorine gas leaked from a 30-ton tank in Ventura County, injuring about 20 people.
More From the Los Angeles Times
Podcasts
UCLA professor and climate scientist, Alex Hall, joins host Kate Cagle to talk about how we can better prepare ourselves for the next mega-fire, including a proposal to create a classification system – and a standardized response – for Santa Ana wind storms, similar to the one we use for hurricanes in the U.S.
The Hillside Strangler murders terrorized Los Angeles in the late 1970s. The killers were a pair of sadistic cousins. One confessed. The other was set to stand trial—until L.A. prosecutors flinched.
Hosts Fidel Martínez and Suzy Exposito sit down with actor and stand-up comedian Fabrizio Guido — currently starring in Netflix’s Running Point — for a conversation about growing up all over LA, making his film debut alongside Brad Pitt in World War Z at age 12, and what it took to build a career from child actor to leading man.
