Los Angeles – Late last night, a massive fire erupted at the Chevron refinery in El Segundo, with the blaze being visible from about 20 miles away. The Chevron facility is located near Los Angeles International Airport and also less than a mile from the Scattergood generating station. 

Food & Water Watch Southern California Senior Organizer Andrea Vega released the following statement:

“As long as fossil fuel infrastructure is near our schools, homes, transit hubs and communities, we will constantly be at risk of explosions, fires, and deadly pollution, like what happened last night. There is no other way to say it, this infrastructure is dangerous. And while the fossil fuel industry is putting us and our families and neighbors at risk, our state leaders and Governor Newsom spent the last session conceding to Big Oil’s demands and cozying up to the industry, including pushing to use state funds to pay Valero to keep its Benicia refinery open, tipping the scales in favor of dirty industry. We need a rapid transition to safe, sustainable renewable energy now, not to keep entrenching these facilities in our communities.”