The Brief

One of Los Angeles’ most polluted stretches of land soon will be cleared for new development, and a full accounting of the ground’s degradation will be left largely to an oil company.

For almost 40 years in the middle of the 20th century, workers at an oil refinery with connected facilities in Wilmington and Carson buried truckloads of slop oil and acid sludge directly on site. Decades later, much of that waste still is in the soil and water table, state records show.

Phillips 66, which now owns the century-old refinery, will idle the plants by the end of the year. In some areas, the contaminated underground layer is more than 16 feet thick. Yet the only estimates for how much it will cost to tear down the refinery and clean up the fouled land is from Phillips 66, which blamed “market dynamics” for its closing.

“It is a huge problem that there is currently no disclosure requirement concerning the actual cost,” said Ann Alexander, an environmental policy consultant and principal at Devonshire Strategies. So much waste has accumulated under and around the refinery, it has formed a subterranean “lake of hydrocarbons,” she added. It could take decades to address.

Some community advocates fear Phillips 66, whose refinery produces up to 139,000 barrels of oil products a day, will offload the financial and health burdens onto the public. The company declined to answer questions, but a spokesperson said it is developing plans to continue removing polluted soil.

“We are in the preliminary planning stages for this work and cannot speculate on a definitive timeline or estimated cost of the decommissioning and remediation,” spokesperson Al Ortiz wrote in an email.

It’s rare for major oil refineries to close, but it may become more common as state and local governments increasingly turn to renewable energy — as California plans to do by subsidizing electric vehicles.

An aerial view of the southeastern side of the Phillips 66 refinery in Wilmington.

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Courtesy Google Earth

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The U.S. Energy Information Agency predicts a small increase in gasoline prices due to the Phillips 66 refinery closure and of a Valero-owned refinery in the Bay Area city of Benicia next year. California officials are holding out hope that other companies will buy one or both of the refineries and keep them in operation, as lawmakers are considering whether to streamline permit approvals for refineries.

In the meantime, years of groundwater testing by regulators reveal a toxic legacy. Among the pollutants in the groundwater under the Carson and Wilmington facilities, overseen by the Los Angeles Regional Water Quality Control Board, are lead from buried waste and dangerous levels of per- and polyfluoroalkyl substances (PFAS) from foam used to fight fires at the refinery.

The Phillips 66 refinery in Wilmington receives refined oil from the Carson plant to make gasoline, diesel and jet fuel.

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Courtesy Google Earth

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None degrade naturally and likely will have to be contained underground, said Danny Reible, a professor of environmental engineering at Texas Tech University who has advised governments on such cleanups. It is “effectively impossible to remove 100%” of such pollution, Reible said.

Some contaminants have leached into aquifers that are a source of drinking water. Since 2023, more than five different samplings by Phillips 66 found elevated levels of tert-butyl alcohol, a gasoline additive, in a groundwater monitoring well in a neighborhood about a half-mile from the Wilmington site.

The well, which is not used for drinking water but touches an aquifer that is connected to drinking water wells in South L.A., has been tested since 2008 after regulators suspected pollution had migrated there. Phillips 66 said the tert-butyl alcohol findings are not attributable to the refinery, and the Los Angeles water board said it did not test drinking water wells for the pollutant because they are all more than a mile from the refinery.

As for the Carson site, two reports from 2005, one by the U.S. EPA and another by the local water board, noted its contamination of the Silverado aquifer could affect nearby drinking water wells. Sampling last year found tert-butyl alcohol in a groundwater monitoring well located at the refinery.

The polluted water is being pumped and transported to disposal sites and recycling facilities, said the Phillips 66 spokesperson. The Los Angeles water board said it has overseen the removal of 2.8 million gallons of light non-aqueous phase liquid (a layer of petroleum contamination that floats on top of water) and 317 million gallons of “impacted groundwater” — the size of 480 Olympic pools. What’s known as a biosprage system also injects pressurized air into the contaminated layer to break down some pollutants.

In the soil above the groundwater, there is a plume containing volatile organic compounds, such as benzene — a known carcinogen — and other gasoline chemicals like diisopropyl ether and methyl-tert-butyl ether, according to testing done last year. Their noxious vapors travel upwards and can seep into buildings.

Phillips 66 said it “engaged” Catellus Development Corporation and Deca Companies to evaluate the 650-acre refinery complex — the size of about 500 football fields. Neither responded to requests for interviews.

The job of regulators after the refinery closes is limited and at times unclear.

The water board will continue testing groundwater but has “no role” in the closure, spokesperson Jackie Carpenter said. It could impose fines on Phillips 66, something it has not done recently.

The Department of Toxic Substances Control told Capital & Main that it only oversees waste removed from an asphalt-capped pond at the Carson plant and a concrete-lined stormwater holding basin at the Wilmington site. Any future waste it deems hazardous also would have to be reported for tracking.

The Phillips 66 refinery facility in Carson begins the process of refining crude oil into petroleum products.

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Courtesy Google Earth

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A request for comment sent to Gov. Gavin Newsom’s press office went unanswered.

Julia Giarmoleo, a spokesperson for the U.S. EPA, said states are authorized to manage solid waste and groundwater contamination. (In 2019 the EPA rejected superfund financial responsibility requirements for oil refineries.)

A lack of coordination worries environmental justice organizations, which are pressing the state of California to establish a refinery wind-down process.

It’s been a “chaotic” process, said Sylvia Arredondo, civic engagement director at Communities for a Better Environment. Instead, the state should be taking an active lead to “do it as a gradual shift.”

The costs also are uncertain.

In filings to the Securities and Exchange Commission, Phillips 66 said “asbestos abatement” and “decommissioning of assets” at its Los Angeles refinery would cost $231 million.

But decommissioning and cleaning “are two different processes with wildly different price tags,” said Faraz Rizvi, policy and campaign manager for Asian Pacific Environmental Network, which is holding a town hall meeting to gather input from nearby residents.

Refinery owners’ disclosure of those costs is mostly unregulated, and they’re allowed to presume refineries have no retirement date. That’s different from other industries with more certain retirement dates, such as nuclear, where plant owners must maintain a fund to close generating stations.

Six of the largest oil refining companies in the U.S., including Phillips 66, have actual closure costs estimated at $34 billion combined, but their own estimates total less than $1 billion, according to a report by London-based think tank Carbon Tracker, which based calculations on daily output capacity.

Taxpayers could end up covering shortfalls, said Eric Stevenson, a former director of meteorology, measurement and rules at the Bay Area Air Quality Management District. “It’s the Wild West right now,” Stevenson said.

Phillips 66 reported a $908 million loss on its Los Angeles refinery in 2024. Its leadership saw a shakeup after the hedge fund led by billionaire Paul Singer bought a $2.5 billion stake in the company and pushed for a focus on other assets, including a petroleum export hub near Houston.

Mass layoffs have followed Singer’s involvement at other companies, such as a petroleum refinery in Contra Costa County owned by Marathon Petroleum. About 600 employees and 300 contractors work at the Los Angeles refinery.

Phillips 66 will retain a presence in Los Angeles. In addition to importing gasoline from its Washington state refinery, it faces federal charges for dumping 790,000 gallons of oil-laden wastewater into county sewers in 2020 and 2021. A criminal trial is scheduled for next year.

Standing outside the Wilmington refinery on a recent morning, longtime resident Anita Gomez urged a group of staff members for state lawmakers not to let the company skirt its obligations. 

She said action is needed to prevent repeating what has happened at other shuttered industrial facilities in the area, including a battery recycling plant in Vernon, where industries have walked away and left the cleanup of their pollution to taxpayers.

“They simply close and don’t clean up,” Gomez said.

If you’ve noticed more wildlife visiting your yard in recent years — maybe digging up your vegetable garden or even drinking from your pool — you’re not alone.

A recent study from UCLA found that larger predators like mountain lions and bears are more likely to interact with humans and travel closer to population centers in drier years. To determine this, the researchers analyzed state data collected on reported property damage, nuisances, conflicts and sightings.

“It kind of runs the full gamut of how people interact with wildlife around their neighborhoods and their homes,” said UCLA postdoctoral researcher Kendall Calhoun, the lead author on the study.

It's not just P-22. Mountain lions across the whole state are forced to leave their habitats for survival.

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Courtesy Kendall Calhoun

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Different motivations for different animals

As you might expect, different animals might have different reasons for entering populated areas. But in large part, Calhoun said, it comes down to animals’ survival instincts.

The primary motivator for many herbivores is likely to be food. That’s because with less precipitation, there’s also less plant material for them to eat. (Don’t forget: even with all the rain we’ve had recently, much of Southern California is still in a drought.)

“ Deer and elk might be pushed to find those food resources in places that they normally wouldn't go, like agriculture, crops, things from people's yards, persimmons from your tree,” Calhoun said.

And as herbivores get pushed toward humans, the animals that prey on them are too. In fact, the species that saw the highest increases in clashes with humans were omnivores and carnivores, specifically mountain lions, coyotes, black bears and bobcats.

But even these animals have varying reasons for getting close to people.

“Mountain lions might be more inclined to look for supplemental food in livestock — that might be a sheep or a goat,” Calhoun said. “Black bears may be more willing to go into your trash to look for food to help supplement what they're missing in their resource-scarce natural areas.”

Meanwhile, animals of all kinds might enter a yard even when they have enough food to look for standing water.

About the data

Researchers analyzed data from the California Department of Fish and Wildlife that were reported over the last several years as part of a citizen science initiative.

One important caveat is that the researchers primarily looked at conflicts between wildlife and residents, and there may be differences in how these interactions are reported.

For example, you might not report a deer eating fruit from an overloaded tree as a nuisance, but even a peaceful black bear digging through your trash could raise alarm bells.

 "People also really value having wildlife living alongside them," Calhoun said. "It really is important for us to try to strike that balance where there's pros for both sides, without some of the negative interactions that come with living in close proximity with wildlife species."

Learn more about human-wildlife interactions

There’s more background on the research on UCLA’s website, and you can find the full study here.

You can also learn much more about interactions between humans and wildlife in LAist’s Imperfect Paradise podcast series, “Lions, Coyotes, & Bears.”

Low-cost internet service will soon roll out in parts of L.A. County at the end of this year, and organizers say eligible households can sign up for alerts when the service becomes available.

The service — a partnership between L.A. County and internet provider WeLink — is the latest project from the county’s “Delete the Divide,” an initiative meant to bridge the digital divide in underserved neighborhoods.

Major funding for the project comes from the American Rescue Plan Act, as well as a grant from the California Public Utilities Commission.

It’s badly needed

About 23%, or more than 20,000, households in the East L.A. and Boyle Heights area don’t have home internet, according to Delete the Divide.

The service will also soon be coming to South L.A., where more than 40,000 households were identified as lacking home internet.

What you need to know

There will be different plans available — including low-income, market-rate and small business options — at fixed prices. The low-cost plan will start at $25 per month for qualifying families. Those who don’t qualify could also purchase plans starting at $65 a month. Monthly rates are fixed until at least September 2027.

Every plan includes unlimited data, a router and parental controls.

Low-cost internet service will soon roll out in South L.A. at the end of this year.

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Courtesy of L.A. County

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Low-cost internet service will soon roll out in parts of East L.A. and Boyle Heights at the end of this year.

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Courtesy of L.A. County

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How it works 

WeLink will install a Wi-Fi router inside a home and a 4-inch radio on the roof to connect the household to the internet.

Interested households can sign up for updates and be notified by WeLink when service is available here.