Home News Community Wilshire Police Division Going the Extra Mile for the Homeless

100 Children Dressed as Canaries March Against Neighborhood Oil Drilling in South LA

  • Print
Details
Category: Community News
Published on Thursday, 06 August 2015 14:27
Written by Press Release
More than 100 children from two summer programs in South Los Angeles took to the streets July 20, dressed as bright yellow birds to demonstrate that they, their families, and their neighbors should not be treated like canaries in a coal mine because of the two oil drilling operations less than 35 feet away from homes in the community.  They marched along Jefferson Blvd from the Adventures Ahead Tutoring Center to the Jefferson Drill Site at Budlong and then along Adams from the Holman Methodist Church to the Murphy Drill Site on Adams. 

AugCan4webThe two sites, Jefferson Drill Site and Murphy Drill Site, are operated by Freeport McMoRan Oil and Gas (FMOG), whose regular operations include parking tanker trucks full of toxic acid next to homes and plaguing residents with noxious fumes, loud noises, heavy truck traffic, and the persistent risk of catastrophic accidents. An EIR has never been conducted at these sites, and as FMOG tries to expand capacity by adding new equipment to the Murphy Drill Site, the children are calling on Council President Herb Wesson to stand with them in opposing it.

augCan2web3The students, who attend the summer programs Adventures Ahead, run by Redeemer Community Partnership (RCP), and the Freedom School, run by Holman United Methodist Church (UMC), have spent their summer learning about social movements, the important role children have played in advancing these causes, and the value of advocating for your community.

AugCan1webBoth RCP and Holman UMC are part of the Stand Together Against Neighborhood Drilling Los Angeles (STAND-LA) coalition, which is dedicated to safeguarding the well-being, health and safety of Angelenos living and working in close proximity to oil drilling sites.

Participants included:

• Pastor Kelvin Sauls, Senior Pastor of Holman United Methodist Church

• Pastor Kevin Blue, Senior Pastor of Church of the Redeemer

• Richard Parks, President of Redeemer Community Partnership

• Rev. Oliver Buie, Minister of Community Engagement at Holman UMC

• 100 children in costume

To read our previous reports on the community's efforts to hold Freeport McMoran accountable, go to our website

www.theneighborhoodnews.net and search "Freeport"

Photos by Dawn Kirkpatrick
Share

News Category

Today3
Yesterday9
Week21
Month40
All988082

Currently are 33 guests and no members online


Kubik-Rubik Joomla! Extensions

About Us

Established in August of 2008 by writer, artist Dianne V. Lawrence, The Neighborhood News covers the events, people, history, politics and historic architecture of communities throughout the Mid-City and West Adams area in Los Angeles Council District 10.

Contact Us

Author
Dianne V. Lawrence
This email address is being protected from spambots. You need JavaScript enabled to view it.