University of Southern California Dissertations and Theses

What you breathe: Lo que respiras

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What you breathe: Lo que respiras

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Content
USC Annenberg School of Journalism:
Thesis Project
By Anabell Romero

Table of Contents

1. Abstract
2. Analysis of project
3. Bibliography
4. Thesis Committee

Abstract:
The goal of this project it to teach Angelenos and anyone interested in learning about refinery
flaring in Los Angeles and its environmental and health impacts, specifically by looking at the
small-unincorporated LA neighborhood of Wilmington.
In this website thesis project, Whatyoubreathe.com (loquerespiras.com) environmentalist, state
agencies, residents, engineers, scientist and other sources are interviewed to speak specifically on
what flaring is, the impacts of flaring and the state regulations that exist regulate flaring. All
information in this website is bilingual.
Flaring is a very event at refineries that blanket the air with black smoke when a discrepancy
occurs. Although several chemicals are emitted into the air when flaring occurs it is also
necessary to prevent a potentially catastrophic explosion at the refinery, which is why flaring is
required.
Flaring in LA, and in all of California, has reduced dramatically in the last decade but several
potentially dangerous incidents continue to occur due to power outages and refinery
malfunctions resulting in hazardous flaring events affecting the environment and the public
health of nearby communities like Wilmington.
Wilmington is ground zero for the largest number of overlapping refinery air pollution plumes in
California, according to a report by Communities for a Better Environment.
Five out of the 10 LA refineries surround this community of almost 54,000 people. It is the
neighborhood with the highest concentration of refineries in California, producing 650,000
barrels per day of crude oil. That is about a third of the state’s total.
Wilmington was given a score of 7.3 out of 10 in pollution burden, which includes, air pollution,
groundwater threats, asthma rates and more according to a 2012 study by the Office of
Environmental Health Hazard Assessment (OEHHA), which surveyed 10,000 people in each
California zip code.
It has high numbers of asthma rates that are 64% higher than the rest of the country, according to
the OEHHA study.
Wilmington is predominantly a Latino community with 88.8% of the population being Latino
and 79.5% of that that population is of Mexican descent, according to 2010 Census data. It is a
low-income neighborhood with a large number of immigrants, many of whom do not know the
exact impacts of living feet away from refineries. That is why this project is bilingual.

Thesis Project and Digital Elements

What You Breathe (Lo Que Respiras) is a website that provides information
digitally for people who are interested in learning about refinery flaring in Los Angeles
and its impacts. The website is bilingual, English and Spanish, to reach a larger audience
specifically the Latino population that is only Spanish speaking and are also being
impacted by flaring.
In the website there are videos, one that describes what flaring is which is the
longest video of five minutes. The video features engineers, government air agency
officials, social scientists that study refineries, and environmentalist. There are also
several short videos with various sources explaining different information about
refineries and flaring. Some of the sources in the short videos include residents that are
refinery neighbors, a union representative that represents refinery workers, air quality
agency officials, environmentalist and more.
The purpose of these short 2-3 minute videos are to give website visitors the
choice to click and watch videos on information they are most interested in learning
about refinery flaring.
In addition to videos I also created infographics based on 2012 flaring data I
requested from the South Coast Air Quality Management Agency District (SCAQMD). I
was successful in attaitaining the latest flaring data by submitting a public record request
with the help of the California environmental group Communities for a Better
Environment (CBE), who also helped me interpret the extensively detailed spreadsheets
with the data information.
In one infographic I provide the largest 2012 flaring incidents where more than
the allowed limit of emissions were released. In another infographic I explain the
common chemicals that are emitted into the air when flaring occurs and the
environmental and health impacts these chemicals have.
The goal of these infographics is to provide people with complex information in
an accessible and easy-to-understand format otherwise difficult to interpret if provided in
the format it was provided to me. (More than 80 spreadsheets of numbers)
The majority of these large flaring incidents are often unreported or
underreported, but nearby residents are very quick to use their mobile phones and social
media platforms to inform their peers of these events. To highlight this I aggregated news
events, tweets, Facebook post and YouTube videos by creating a Storify with the
objective of demonstrating website visitors of the impacts of participatory journalism and
how information on flaring is often shared first through social media.
It took me several months to build relationships with these sources, set up
interviews with sources, shoot video and photos, learn some basic html programming and
build the website. These are invaluable skills that have already helped me tremendously
in becoming a better digital reporter. Through my courses at Annenberg the school for
journalism I learned the fundamentals of journalism and reporting but this project really
gave me the opportunity to use my reporting and digital skills on a level that will help me
become a successful online journalist.
The digital tools I used to create my website were Wordpress, Storify, Vimeo and
Easel.ly. In an era where everyday more people are consuming information online I felt it
was vital that my project be something digitally accessible. I chose a responsive web
design, which allows website visitors to use their smartphones to easily navigate the
website.
I plan to continue to work on this project and continue to update it with
information. For example, once I receive clearance from SCAQMD and CBE on
publishing more data information I plan to provide these spreadsheets in an easier format
for people to use the data for their own purposes.
I’ve also spoken to the sources in my project about hosting a community meeting
on refinery flaring in Wilmington to engage more people on the issue and provide
awareness on my project for communities to use. In this community meeting I would like
to have a panel with these sources and moderate a discussion about flaring and what is
being done to minimize it.
The reason I chose to focus my project on flaring is because I am from
Wilmington. It is the neighborhood I was raised in and the community my family
continues to reside in. Refineries are something that have directly impacted my life and
living by them I was never clear of the impacts of having them as neighbors. As I began
to attend more community meetings and educate myself about refineries I felt it was my
duty to inform my peers of what flaring was, the impacts and what’s being done to
minimize flaring. I chose flaring because it is something that is the most visible to people
when passing by a refinery, but yet people have a small understanding of what it is, why
it’s occurring and what chemicals are released when it happens.

Bibliography

1. U.S. Environmental Protection Agency, Office of Air Quality Planning and
Standards, Health and Environmental Impacts Division
http://www.epa.gov/mats/pdfs/20111221MATSfinalRIA.pdf
2. California Environmental Protection Agency
http://www.arb.ca.gov/fuels/carefinery/carefinery.htm

3. United States Environmental Protection Agency, 2011 National Analysis Facility
Report
http://iaspub.epa.gov/triexplorer/release_fac?p_view=COFA&trilib=TRIQ0&sort=_VIE
W_&sort_fmt=1&state=06&county=06013&chemical=All+chemicals&industry=ALL&
year=2010&tab_rpt=1&fld=RELLBY&OTHDISPD=Y&fld=&fld=TSFDSP

4. Children’s Environmental Health Center
http://hydra.usc.edu/cehc/research.html

5. INRIX National Traffic Scoreboard
http://scorecard.inrix.com/scorecard/summary.asp

6. ENERGYALMANAC.CA.GOV / PETROLEUM / REFINERY HISTORY
http://energyalmanac.ca.gov/petroleum/refinery_history.html

7. U.S. Energy Information Administration
http://www.eia.gov/tools/faqs/faq.cfm?id=29&t=6

8. American Lung Association
http://www.stateoftheair.org/2013/city-rankings/most-pollutedcities.html

9. Communities for a Better Environment
http://www.cbecal.org/wp-content/upl

10. Refinery flaring in the Neighborhood, Communities for a Better Environment
Report,
http://www.cbecal.org/wp-content/uploads/2012/05/Refinery-Flaring-in-the-
Neighborhood.pdf

11. Increasing burden of Oil Refineries, Communities for a Better Environment
Report
http://www.cbecal.org/wp-content/uploads/2012/05/wilmington_refineries_report.pdf

12. Flare operator report, South Coast Air Quality Management District
http://www.aqmd.gov/comply/1118/hotlines.htm

Thesis Committee
Chair: Robert Hernandez, Assistant Professor of Professional Practice, Annenberg
School for Communication and Journalism
Committee Member: Gabriel Kahn, Professor of Professional Practice; Co-Director,
Media, Economics and Entrepreneurship; Director, Future of Journalism at the
Annenberg Innovation Lab, Annenberg School for Communication and Journalism
Committee Member: Andrea Hricko, Professor of Clinical Director, Community
Outreach and Education, Southern California Environmental Health Sciences Center,
Keck School of Medicine

Abstract (if available)

Abstract The goal of this project it to teach Angelenos and anyone interested in learning about refinery flaring in Los Angeles and its environmental and health impacts, specifically by looking at the small-unincorporated LA neighborhood of Wilmington. ❧ In this website thesis project, Whatyoubreathe.com (loquerespiras.com) environmentalist, state agencies, residents, engineers, scientist and other sources are interviewed to speak specifically on what flaring is, the impacts of flaring and the state regulations that exist regulate flaring. All information in this website is bilingual. ❧ Flaring is a very event at refineries that blanket the air with black smoke when a discrepancy occurs. Although several chemicals are emitted into the air when flaring occurs it is also necessary to prevent a potentially catastrophic explosion at the refinery, which is why flaring is required. ❧ Flaring in LA, and in all of California, has reduced dramatically in the last decade but several potentially dangerous incidents continue to occur due to power outages and refinery malfunctions resulting in hazardous flaring events affecting the environment and the public health of nearby communities like Wilmington. ❧ Wilmington is ground zero for the largest number of overlapping refinery air pollution plumes in California, according to a report by Communities for a Better Environment. ❧ Five out of the 10 LA refineries surround this community of almost 54,000 people. It is the neighborhood with the highest concentration of refineries in California, producing 650,000 barrels per day of crude oil. That is about a third of the state’s total. ❧ Wilmington was given a score of 7.3 out of 10 in pollution burden, which includes, air pollution, groundwater threats, asthma rates and more according to a 2012 study by the Office of Environmental Health Hazard Assessment (OEHHA), which surveyed 10,000 people in each California zip code. ❧ It has high numbers of asthma rates that are 64% higher than the rest of the country, according to the OEHHA study. ❧ Wilmington is predominantly a Latino community with 88.8% of the population being Latino and 79.5% of that that population is of Mexican descent, according to 2010 Census data. It is a low-income neighborhood with a large number of immigrants, many of whom do not know the exact impacts of living feet away from refineries. That is why this project is bilingual.

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Asset Metadata

Creator Romero, Anabell (author)

Core Title What you breathe: Lo que respiras

School Annenberg School for Communication

Degree Master of Arts

Degree Program Journalism

Publication Date 09/27/2013

Defense Date 09/08/2013

Publisher University of Southern California (original), University of Southern California. Libraries (digital)

Tag AQMD,clean air,flaring in Los Angeles,lo que respiras,OAI-PMH Harvest,oil,petroleum,Pollution,Public Health,refineries in LA,refinery flaring,refinery neighbors,what you breathe,Wilmington

Format application/pdf (imt)

Language English

Contributor Electronically uploaded by the author (provenance)

Advisor Hernandez, Robert (committee chair), Hricko, Andrea (committee member), Kahn, Gabriel (committee member)

Creator Email anabellr@usc.edu,romero.anabell@gmail.com

Permanent Link (DOI) https://doi.org/10.25549/usctheses-c3-329630

Unique identifier UC11292710

Identifier etd-RomeroAnab-2056.pdf (filename),usctheses-c3-329630 (legacy record id)

Legacy Identifier etd-RomeroAnab-2056.pdf

Dmrecord 329630

Document Type Thesis

Format application/pdf (imt)

Rights Romero, Anabell

Type texts

Source University of Southern California (contributing entity), University of Southern California Dissertations and Theses (collection)

Access Conditions The author retains rights to his/her dissertation, thesis or other graduate work according to U.S. copyright law. Electronic access is being provided by the USC Libraries in agreement with the a...

Repository Name University of Southern California Digital Library

Repository Location USC Digital Library, University of Southern California, University Park Campus MC 2810, 3434 South Grand Avenue, 2nd Floor, Los Angeles, California 90089-2810, USA