Vista Hermosa - LA Oil field

Vista Hermosa is a community next to downtown Los Angeles, it also sits atop what was once the top-producing oil field in California – the Los Angeles City Oil Field. Many of the wells have since been abandoned, and while other nearby fields in wealthier neighborhoods have had their wells capped, many of the wells under Vista Hermosa have not been. Residents, especially those who grew up in close proximity to these wells, have suffered health issues from their long-term exposure to the toxic emissions from them.

Now major housing developments are going up all over Vista Hermosa, something that is needed to address the housing crisis in Los Angeles. But developers in their haste to build these new units, are building directly over these abandoned well sites and refusing to spend the money to cap them. The result is these wells are becoming inaccessible, and should a leak occur or emissions increase, there will be no ability to get to the wells and take any safety measures to address the problems.

Writer Marissa Pianko and I did a story on the Vista Hermosa neighborhood and the residents who are fighting to save and make safe their community. It was published in DeSmog back in 2020, here is the link to the story.

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Resident and activist Brenda Valdivia, who has suffered from lifelong health conditions that she attributes to the wells, stands in front of the 120-unit development by Aragon Holdings. She holds a photo circa 1895-1901 of that area.

Resident Thomas Gustafson holds a photo from 1901 in front of an original home on Edgeware Road and Court Street, once surrounded by oil derricks.

Cement mixer trucks line up in front of a home once surrounded by oil wells, to deliver their load to a construction site on Court Street. The home can be seen in the photos Thomas Gustafson holds of the area in 1901.

Lifelong resident and neighborhood activist, Rosalinda Morales stands on Firmin Street in the same location as a photo from 1958 of her aunt holding her in front of an oil tank. Dozens of abandoned wells still lie under homes and below ground along Firmin Street.

Construction of Firmin Court, a 64-unit development. A smokey haze from recent wildfires gives everything am eerie orange glow.

A “Now Leasing” sign hangs from a recently constructed multi-unit residential development along Boylston Street next to some of the original single-family homes common to the area. Vista Hermosa is a neighborhood near downtown Los Angeles that sits on top of the Los Angeles Oil Field which was once the largest producing oil field in California. Hundreds of abandoned wells still exist but new large residential developments are being built over the wells and will prevent access to them in the event of leaks, toxic emissions, or pipe breakage.

Resident, Esther Salas stands in front of the future site of the Echo Park Hotel, on W. 1st Street and Glendale Boulevard, a 185-room hotel. She holds a 1901 photo of the area, showing oil derricks lining the road.

An old wooden base, once part of machinery used for oil production, sits in the front yard of a home along Court Street.

Resident and neighborhood activist, Danny Luna holds a photo from 1904 of the intersection of Toluca and Court Street – an area once dotted with oil derricks. Today, it is the location of a 120-unit development by Aragon Holdings.

One of two developments being constructed on Toluca Street by by Vancouver-based Aragon Holdings

Resident, Mercedes Yolanda Cooper holds a 1905 photo of the intersection of W. 1st Street and Belmont Ave. Today, though not visible, the oil wells lie shallowly below the ground.

One of many new multi-unit residential developments being constructed in the Vista Hermosa neighborhood.

A homeless camp along Emerald Street in the Vista Hermosa neighborhood.