{"id":202542,"date":"2026-03-03T18:40:07","date_gmt":"2026-03-03T18:40:07","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-ca\/202542\/"},"modified":"2026-03-03T18:40:07","modified_gmt":"2026-03-03T18:40:07","slug":"the-city-of-long-beach-approved-yet-another-oil-storage-tank-project","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-ca\/202542\/","title":{"rendered":"The City of Long Beach Approved Yet Another Oil Storage Tank Project."},"content":{"rendered":"

In\u00a0Southern\u00a0California,\u00a0children in\u00a0Wilmington,\u00a0Carson, and West Long\u00a0Beach\u00a0are forced to breathe in pollution from nearby oil refineries\u00a0while at\u00a0school\u00a0and daycare.\u00a0Miles of\u00a0congested\u00a0freeways and busy rail yards\u00a0cut through residential areas,\u00a0leaving diesel\u00a0and\u00a0toxic\u00a0waste\u00a0lingering\u00a0in front yards, on playgrounds,\u00a0and\u00a0by hospitals.\u00a0\u00a0<\/p>\n

The twin\u00a0Ports of\u00a0Long Beach and Los Angeles\u00a0are directly\u00a0adjacent to\u00a0these\u00a0communities and are\u00a0the largest ports in the\u00a0country and\u00a0collectively the\u00a0single largest fixed source of air pollution in Southern\u00a0California<\/a>.\u00a0People who live and work in the\u00a0area are\u00a0forced to\u00a0endure\u00a0chronic\u00a0health issues like asthma, reduced lung function, and\u00a0cancer. The\u00a0dangerous air quality\u00a0caused by the\u00a0countless\u00a0sources of\u00a0pollution\u00a0have\u00a0led some to\u00a0call the area\u00a0the\u00a0\u201cdiesel death zone.\u201d<\/a>\u00a0\u00a0<\/p>\n

As this public\u00a0health\u00a0crisis rages,\u00a0the\u00a0City of Long Beach\u00a0continues\u00a0to dismiss\u00a0community outcry and approve\u00a0more\u00a0polluting projects.\u00a0One such project\u00a0proposed by\u00a0Ribost\u00a0Terminal\u00a0\u2013the World Oil Installation Project \u2014\u00a0would\u00a0significantly expand\u00a0crude oil storage\u00a0capacity at the\u00a0Port of Long Beach.\u00a0\u00a0<\/p>\n

The Ribost Terminal, doing business as World Oil Terminals, currently contains seven storage tanks holding a combined 502,000 barrels of petroleum products. The new project proposes to construct two additional massive storage tanks, which would bring the facility\u2019s total to nine tanks with a combined capacity of over 23 million gallons of crude oil and petroleum products. \u00a0<\/p>\n

The City of Long Beach approved the\u00a0project\u00a0in\u00a0November 2024.\u00a0Communities for a Better Environment, represented by Earthjustice,\u00a0promptly sued the City<\/a>\u00a0for violating the California Environmental Quality Act (\u201cCEQA\u201d).\u00a0CBE is rooted in place-based organizing and works alongside\u00a0community leaders in the South Bay to build people\u2019s power in California\u2019s\u00a0communities of color and low-income\u00a0communities. CBE\u2019s mission is to achieve environmental health and justice by preventing and reducing pollution and building green, healthy, and sustainable\u00a0communities and environments.\u00a0<\/p>\n

The\u00a0project\u00a0authorizes\u00a0World Oil to move\u00a0crude oil from two of its existing storage tanks to the two new tanks\u00a0it proposes to\u00a0construct. World Oil will\u00a0then\u00a0lease out the two existing tanks\u00a0to\u00a0unidentified\u00a0third parties.\u00a0Because the existing tanks\u00a0storing\u00a0crude oil\u00a0are underutilized,\u00a0the tanks have the\u00a0capacity to store\u00a0even\u00a0more\u00a0crude oil than they are storing now\u2014a\u00a0critical detail that the\u00a0City\u00a0ignores.\u00a0\u00a0<\/p>\n

These tanks are a significant source of air pollution. Tanks release pollution into the environment, including several cancer-causing pollutants like benzene and toluene. Exposure to toxic air contaminants, like the ones emitted from crude oil, increases nearby residents\u2019 cancer risk. Indeed, families living near the proposed project already have significantly higher cancer risks compared to other families in the surrounding region.\u00a0<\/p>\n

Besides\u00a0the increased harms to air quality, these storage tanks also\u00a0create hazardous\u00a0conditions that threaten public\u00a0health and safety. For example,\u00a0crude oil from storage tanks\u00a0creates\u00a0toxic\u00a0sludge\u00a0that must be routinely\u00a0monitored\u00a0and\u00a0removed\u00a0from the tanks. This oily sludge\u00a0contains\u00a0heavy metals\u00a0that are not degradable\u00a0and\u00a0cause serious health risks to\u00a0people\u00a0a<\/a>nd the\u00a0surrounding\u00a0environment.\u00a0Moreover, storage tanks are inherently dangerous and are prone to spills, explosions, and fires\u00a0caused by malfunctions and natural disasters.\u00a0\u00a0<\/p>\n

Despite the Project\u2019s\u00a0harmful\u00a0environmental impacts,\u00a0the\u00a0City of Long Beach\u00a0did everything in its power\u00a0to\u00a0avoid\u00a0thoroughly\u00a0reviewing\u00a0the proposed\u00a0project\u00a0from the start.\u00a0The\u00a0city initially greenlit an expedited approval of the\u00a0project in October 2020.\u00a0Community members fought back on the approval, and World Oil agreed to prepare an\u00a0environmental impact report (EIR) under\u00a0CEQA to fully evaluate the\u00a0project\u2019s environmental effects.\u00a0\u00a0<\/p>\n

But\u00a0the EIR\u00a0failed to\u00a0adequately\u00a0disclose\u00a0or evaluate the\u00a0project\u2019s environmental impacts. Instead,\u00a0the EIR\u00a0concluded\u00a0that the\u00a0project\u00a0would\u00a0have\u00a0no\u00a0environmental impacts,\u00a0even though\u00a0the\u00a0project allows for\u00a0increased storage of\u00a0crude oil.\u00a0The EIR also\u00a0failed to\u00a0consider the severe environmental harms that\u00a0already\u00a0exist in the region, ignoring\u00a0the\u00a0hundreds of\u00a0nearby\u00a0storage tanks\u00a0and oil refineries.\u00a0<\/p>\n

The\u00a0Long Beach\u00a0City\u00a0Council\u00a0approved the\u00a0project\u00a0over the public\u2019s objections\u00a0in\u00a0November 2024.\u00a0At the hearing, the\u00a0City\u00a0Council\u00a0was required\u00a0to hear objections from\u00a0all interested members of the\u00a0public. Instead,\u00a0council\u00a0limited public\u00a0comments\u00a0to only\u00a0those that were \u201cpersonal\u201d in nature.\u00a0<\/p>\n

The\u00a0City of Long Beach\u2019s\u00a0blind faith\u00a0approval of the\u00a0oil tank expansion project\u00a0is\u00a0just\u00a0the latest example\u00a0of why there must be a moratorium\u00a0on\u00a0new fossil fuel infrastructure\u00a0in the region.\u00a0Long Beach\u00a0decisionmakers\u00a0lack the political\u00a0courage to\u00a0protect their\u00a0citizens\u00a0and\u00a0constituents\u00a0from\u00a0the environmental harms that\u00a0come from\u00a0expanding\u00a0oil\u00a0infrastructure\u00a0despite all the known harms to health and the environment.\u00a0\u00a0<\/p>\n

On March 9, 2026, residents of\u00a0Wilmington,\u00a0Carson, and West Long Beach\u00a0will\u00a0finally\u00a0have their day\u00a0to\u00a0challenge the\u00a0city\u2019s approval\u00a0in\u00a0court.\u202fThe\u00a0city\u00a0will\u00a0no\u00a0longer be able to\u00a0ignore\u00a0the\u00a0voices of those forced to\u00a0endure\u00a0the\u00a0consequences\u00a0of\u00a0their decisions and\u00a0reality\u00a0on the ground.\u00a0<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"In\u00a0Southern\u00a0California,\u00a0children in\u00a0Wilmington,\u00a0Carson, and West Long\u00a0Beach\u00a0are forced to breathe in pollution from nearby oil refineries\u00a0while at\u00a0school\u00a0and daycare.\u00a0Miles of\u00a0congested\u00a0freeways and…\n","protected":false},"author":2,"featured_media":202543,"comment_status":"","ping_status":"","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[33],"tags":[131,133,132],"class_list":["post-202542","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","category-long-beach","tag-long-beach","tag-long-beach-headlines","tag-long-beach-news"],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-ca\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/202542","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-ca\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-ca\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-ca\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/2"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-ca\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=202542"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-ca\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/202542\/revisions"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-ca\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/202543"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-ca\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=202542"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-ca\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=202542"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-ca\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=202542"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}