Tan Nguyen

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Geography 5

Chevron’s Influence on the Santa Monica Bay

One of Southern California’s unique qualities is its vast array of beaches. Because of the fact that these beaches have different meaning to different people, beaches have been used for different purposes. The meaning a surfer holds towards a particular stretch of beach is completely different than that of the corporation who is operating a refinery at that same stretch of beach. One particular stretch of beaches, which has been affected by humans in both a negative and positive manner, has been the Santa Monica Bay. The Santa Monica Bay encompasses the region of beaches located between Point Dume and Palos Verdes Point.

Humans have impacted Santa Monica Bay in many different ways. Along with humans, industry is also making an impact on the Bay. One particular corporation, which, has had a huge impact on Santa Monica Bay is the Chevron Corporation. This impact has come from Chevron’s refinery, which is located ocean side in El Segundo, part of the Santa Monica Bay. The impact of the refinery has been both positive and negative.

Many different websites have documented the refinery’s impact on its surrounding environment. Chevron’s own website has showed the positive impacts its corporation has had on its surroundings. Other environmentalist websites have shown the negative impacts of the Chevron Corporation. These websites include the Surfrider , Smbay, and the Institute for Global Communications (IGC).

The El Segundo Chevron Oil refinery was established in 1911. Currently, it manufactures a plethora of petroleum products including gasoline, jet fuel, kerosene, solvent, coke, fuel oil, liquefied petroleum gases and propylene polymer. The refinery is located on El Segundo’s coast, about 15 miles north of Palos Verdes Point, Santa Monica Bay’s southern border. The refinery itself has been blamed for leaking out toxic emissions into the bay, and into the atmosphere.

The refinery’s positive impacts on its surroundings are well documented on Chevron’s homepage. When one reaches Chevron’s homepage one hits a nice, colorful drawing, portraying a little plot of land. There are hills, a river, and grass. On this plot of land, there are different links such as environment, Newsroom, Investor Center, etc... I believe, Chevron’s goal in having this little cartoon like picture, is to portray a softer side to the corporation. They are trying to convey the sense that Chevron isn’t a completely mechanical, and industrialized corporation. Had Chevron put up a picture of a dark, menacing, realistic refinery, and dead grass around the refinery, the picture would not convey such an image. If one inspects the picture closely, the refinery, and oil drill are located in the far corner of the picture, almost completely out of sight. This picture is really not very realistic, we do not live in a shiny happy world. Once one goes to Chevron’s environment link one is introduced to many positive things Chevron has done to help the community around the refinery. One thing Chevron has done is to sponsor beach clean ups. Chevron’s own employees have even volunteered in these clean ups. Chevron has also helped to preserve an endangered species, the El Segundo Blue, a butterfly whose habitat includes lies within Chevron’s El Segundo oil refinery. The refinery has gone as far as to fence off the area, hire an entomologist, remove marauding weeds, and to cultivate buckwheat seedlings, in order to keep the El Segundo Blue from becoming extinct.

Chevron also has created the Chevron Electronic Classroom, which are films that explain environmental concepts such as "The Greenhouse Effect" to middle school kids. The corporation has also given funds to the World Wildlife Fund to educate kids about the importance of saving the rainforest. Chevron also has given out an award, the Chevron Conservation Awards which recognizes the environmental accomplishments of organizations, professionals, and volunteers. From these efforts it appears that Chevron has taken a Malthusian view to fixing the strenuous environment problems facing our world. If everyone does their part than things can get better.

Besides giving out awards, Chevron has received numerous environmental awards such as the California Integrated Waste Management Board ­ Waste Reduction Award. This particular award was given to Chevron’s El Segundo oil refinery.

The Chevron environment link also discusses how Chevron has continually strived to reduce toxic emissions, and prevent toxic spills. However, one must take Chevron for their word, for no statistics appear backing up this claim.

I believe that there is an important underlying social relationship at work here. This relationship exists between the Chevron Corporation and the public. Chevron is in effect, through its website, making it seem that the corporation is very environmentally conscious. This in effect, persuades the public, that Chevron is responsible and cares about the environment. That way, more people will be willing to buy Chevron stock. Let’s be honest, no one’s going to want to invest in a corporation which is a huge polluter. Not for the reason that everyone has the environment high up on their priority list, but rather because they do not want to lose money on their investment. If a corporation for example has an oil tanker which hits an iceberg and leaks out all of its oil content, that company is going to suffer both in the realm of public relations and economically. That company’s stock is going to go down in value.

To no one’s surprise, the Chevron site portrays Chevron as an environmentally sensitive and conscious corporation. All the articles appear to be part of Chevron’s promotional campaign. None are excerpts from environmental magazines, but rather are all Chevron’s own doing. In essence Chevron is bragging about itself.

If one only looks at Chevron’s homepage, one will get a sense that Chevron is only affecting the environment in a positive manner. However, if one looks at the many other environmental websites that can be found on the net, one will soon change their minds. In these websites, Chevron is portrayed in a very negative manner. From these websites, it appears that Chevron affects the environment in only an adverse, detrimental manner.

One organization, which portrays Chevron’s El Segundo Refinery in a very negative manner is Smbay. If one goes to Smbay’s Human Impact’s on the Bay links, one will find that Chevron has "discharged secondary treated wastewater through an outfall 500 feet offshore of the beach at Grand Avenue. The refinery discharges six to seven millions gallons per day of treated water during dry weather and up to 20 millions of gallons per day during wet conditions." This is by no means a flattering fact. This site is not particular strong for it doesn’t really have an image concerning the El Segundo refinery. An image would have made the crisis seem more real and immediate. Also the information concerning the refinery is very short and concise. There aren’t many facts there. What little information there is, isn’t attributed to anyone. Therefore, one must assume that the information comes from the organization itself. If one thinks about it, the name of the organization really explains why the organization thinks the way it does. Those who are part of the organization are most likely residents near the Santa Monica Bay itself. They don’t want to see it go down the drain.

Another organization, which attacks the Chevron El Segundo refinery is the Institute for Global Communications (IGC) website. If one goes to the link concerning the El Segundo refinery one will see the different ways in which the refinery affects the environment in an adverse manner. The refinery furnishes gasoline to the millions of cars who then, when operated pollute the air. Also, the refinery itself is one of the biggest toxic polluters in Los Angeles County. Underneath the refinery lies a massive amount of leaked oil. Besides that the refinery itself also leaks out thousands of gallons of effluent into the ocean every single day. In his article Oil on the Sea, Max Blumer illustrates just how dangerous this leakage can be. "Careless disposal of oil or oily mixtures is a menace to property, health, comfort, and safety. On our beaches it has destroyed opportunities for healthful recreation. It has worked serious injury to marine and wild life." This link is particular strong in the picture that begins the article. The article begins with a color picture of the beach adjacent to the refinery filled to the brim with people. The picture is rather ominous in the way it superimposes these people playing in the water, with the refinery right behind them. This is a very strong image that makes you think of the countless ways the ocean is polluted due to the refinery’s existence. This picture illustrates the dangerous social relationship shared between the refinery and those people who swim in the ocean. The public is sort of prey to the refinery. If the refinery pollutes the ocean, than those in the public, who use the ocean, for swimming and other purposes will most likely become sick. Therefore, the refinery directly affects the public.

The IGC also has another link concerning the El Segundo Refinery. The article begins with the numerous protests which have been staged against Chevron. This article also discusses how the refinery has been discharging approximately 8 million gallons of wastewater a day into the Santa Monica Bay. The link also discusses how the refinery has been leaking gasoline vapors into people’s homes in the neighboring cities. The article concludes with how the El Segundo Refinery has had to change due to ongoing pressure from numerous environmental organizations. Though Chevron moved towards change, it never really did. Chevron simply used a pipeline which hadn’t been used to route the pollution further out to sea. According to Chevron, "our decision voluntarily move forward with this project exemplifies our intent to remain an environmental leader." But this article contends that the only reason Chevron implemented this plan was because it was the cheapest alternative. Both of the IGC articles concerning the refinery are attributed to Joshua Karliner for "The Corporate Planet." This is the only website I visited that attributed their articles to a source. This does not necessarily mean that the source isn’t biased, but it allows the public to check and find out for themselves, if that source is biased.

The Surfrider Foundation also does a good job of bringing the negative aspects of the Chevron El Segundo Refinery to light. If one does a keyword search of the site under Chevron El Segundo Oil Refinery, one will find many different articles regarding the refinery. One particular article discusses the detrimental effect the refinery has had on El Segundo’s surf. In 1983, the refinery put up 900 feet long groins to help protect the refinery. This came at the heels of the 1982-1983 El Nino, when massive storm waves created extensive erosion along the coast and left Chevron's El Segundo refinery and pipelines without a protective beach. Since these groins have been created the surf in El Segundo has completely been ruined. In a way, this episode illustrates how Chevron has made Nature it’s home. It has transformed the landscape to fit its needs. This episode also shows the contrasting meaning a certain place can have. To the surfers, the ocean is something sacred, that at times produces powerful waves which give them pure, adrenaline filled rides on their surfboards. To Chevron, the ocean is both a nuisance and a gift. On one had, it erodes at the ground which the refinery lies upon, endangering the refinery. On the other hand, the ocean is a dumping ground, where Chevron can do what they want to do, as long as they are not caught. The Surfrider organization actually took Chevron to court creating a legal precedent whereby waves were recognized as a valued natural resource, much like minerals and the numerous other fruits produced by Mother Earth. This incident is a perfect example of how natural resources can have different meaning to different people. To surfers, the ocean is a wondrous thing that needs to be protected. To Chevron, the ocean is simply a natural resource, that must be taken advantage of. What is a particularly strong in this website is the graphs, and maps which help to illustrate the points which are made in the different articles. The Surfrider Foundation takes a recreationist stance regarding the refinery problem. The foundation never really mentions the environmental problems caused by the refinery, but rather simply mention the decrease in good waves since the advent of the protective groins.

Unlike other websites, the Surfrider Foundation isn’t completely one sided in its views. The site actually discusses how Chevron is trying to fix its mistake. Currently, Chevron, with the assistance of the Surfrider Foundation is attempting to rebuild El Segundo’s surf through the construction of Pratte’s reef. This reveals an important social relation between Chevron and the Surfrider Foundation. Both are working together to eliminate the lack of good surf. This could in some way, bias, and influence the Surfrider Foundation’s views. If you look closely at the website, the foundation never discusses how Chevron has been dumping toxins into the ocean. They simply focus on the lack of good surf due to the groins. I believe a deal between Chevron and the Surfrider Foundation could have been made, where the foundation didn’t publicize the dumping of toxins on Chevron’s part, if Chevron helped Surfrider rebuild a reef which would produce better waves. Afterall, it seems the Surfrider Foundation is pretty much only concerned with surf, and not the environment.

In his book, Abandoned Seas, Peter Weber discusses the sources of marine pollution. 44% of marine pollution is caused by run-off and discharges from land, 33% is caused by airborne emissions from land, 12% is caused by shipping and accidental spills, 10% is caused by ocean dumping, and 1% is caused by offshore mining and oil and gas drilling. To some these statistics might be a bit inflated, but after reviewing the numerous environmental sites and after seeing the numerous environmental crimes committed by Chevron it is not so surprising.

ENVIRONMENTAL WEBSITES

One of the interesting aspects of the numerous Environmental Websites I reviewed is that they all in someway or the other asked for donations. The only articles which are cited are those contained on the IGC website. The articles contained on the Surfrider and Smbay websites are not cited. They appear to be written by workers in their particular organizations. As a result, I would not be surprise if these articles are somewhat biased. It is through the use of these articles that these environmental websites are able to support their views. Much of these sites leave out information that might weaken their view. For example, in his article "More People, Greater Wealth, More Resources, Healthier Environment", Julian L. Simon talks about how the amount of water of good drinkability has been increasing. An environmental website discussing how water is becoming more and more polluted would surely never mention this fact. I also believe that the environmental websites give facts about how Chevron is ruining the environment so that people are incited to take action. People will become outraged by facts like how Chevron dumps effluent in the ocean. They will get involved and protest. At least this is what the environmental sites hope will happen.

The perfect website regarding this matter of coastal pollution due to the El Segundo Refinery would contain no biases. However, this is a feat that is not easily accomplished. People cannot simply leave their views behind them, and view things without the cultural filter which has been ingrained in them, and been used, without them even knowing it. This is just part of the world we live in.

However, based on those websites I did review, the IGC website is the strongest. First of all, the images it chooses to line its articles are particular moving. You can feel sick just looking at people playing in the same ocean that a refinery releases gallons of waste water and effluent into. This website also evokes outrage. It makes you want to get up and make a change. It also gives you examples that people can make a difference through protest. One of the articles begins with a description of the different protests which have taken place, against Chevron. Due to these protests, Chevron was forced to make a change, albeit a small one. Another of its strength is the way in which it appeals to a vast array of people. For example, the Surfrider Organization has articles and facts that pretty much only appeal to surfers. Who else would care about a new reef producing better, peakier waves. I also think IGC’s website is the best because it attempted to portray both points of views. The articles show how Chevron has tried to erase their mistakes by taking steps to do what is environmentally advantageous. This is unlike, Chevron’s website, which pretty much taps itself on the back, by regurgitating a list of Chevron’s environmental awards, donations, and other such superfluous acts. In my opinion, IGC’s website is the strongest concerning coastal pollution in El Segundo due to the refinery, not only because it gives you a massive amount of information, but because it makes you squirm, and feel like getting off of your chair and making a difference.

Blummer, Max (1969) "Oil Pollution of the Ocean" in Man’s Impact on the Environment. Thomas R. Detwyler ed., New York, McGraw-Hill: 295-300

Weber, Peter (1993) Abandoned Seas, Washington D.C., Worldwatch Institute: 17-19

Simon, Julian (1994) "More People, Greater Wealth, More Resources, Healthier Environment" in Taking Sides. Theodore D. Goldfarb ed., New York, McGraw-Hill: 354-364

Fine, Christopher (1987) Oceans in Peril. New York, Atheneum: 98-99

Surfrider Foundation (1999). http://www.surfrider.org/cgi-local/AT-surfriSurfrider19991007search.cgi

Smbay Organization (1999). http://www.smbay.org/human/61.htm

Chevron (1999) http://www.chevron.com/environment/index.html

Institute for Global Communications (IGC) http://www.igc.org/trac/gallery/chevron/elsegundo.html