University Library
Right of Way
University Library
Right of Way
In the early twentieth century, nearly all Southern California beaches were privately owned, oil wells covered large swaths of the shoreline, and offshore drilling had taken hold up and down the coast. Industrial waste, raw sewage, and more flowed directly into the ocean until construction of the Hyperion screening plant in 1925. When real estate entrepreneurs, civic leaders, tourism boosters, and hospitality investors realized the coast's economic potential, beach restoration became a priority, second only to developing the ports of Los Angeles and Long Beach.
The ports have played a tremendous role in the city’s economy for over a century, but bordering communities have borne a burden. The fifteen cities surrounding the ports are populated by over a million people, 70% of whom are minority and low-income residents. Primary transportation corridors to and from the ports produce 20% of diesel particulate emissions in Southern California, correlating with high rates of asthma, cardiovascular disease, reproductive disease, and cancer. Various industrial sites, oil and gas refineries, recycling centers, and freight transportation companies are located on land adjacent to the ports and surrounding neighborhoods. From the beach, offshore oil rigs still dot the horizon.
On display in this case are handouts describing the dangers of offshore oil and gas activities and the negative impacts of industrial toxins and noise on marine life; a report on pollution and quarantine of Santa Monica Bay; documentation of early construction at the Port of Los Angeles; and a booklet describing the impacts of poor land use practices on waterways. Also displayed is a map depicting proposed offshore coastal shelf oil leases, state oil and gas sanctuaries, federal ecological preserves, and buffer zones.
Case 13, Climate Change, is to your right along the south wall of the gallery.
1
Flyer, "Calling All Concerned Citizens!" 1971Northridge Civic Association Papers
2
"Fact sheet: Offshore Oil and Gas Activities…"Susan B. Nelson Collection
3
"Southern California Estuaries and Coastal Wetlands: Endangered Environments"League of Women Voters of Los Angeles Collection
4
Coastline Plans and Action for the Development of the Los Angeles Metropolitan CoastlineSB 483 L7 G73 1944
5
Report on a Pollution Survey of Santa Monica Bay Beaches in 1942, June 26, 1943Los Angeles County Federation of Labor Collection
6
San Pedro: The Harbor of Southern California, 1907TC 240 L8 F74 1907a
7
Map, "Southern California Offshore Area,"proposed oil and gas sales, circa 1971Susan B. Nelson Collection
8
Photo, Pollution in Santa Monica Bay, circa 1982Susan B. Nelson Collection
