Asian Pacific Environmental Network

For Immediate Release

June 5, 2026

Contact: 

Blake@sunstonestrategies.com, 310-894-6690

 

Phillips 66 Carson Refinery Site Remediation Estimated at Nearly $1 Billion

 

New report reveals Carson community at risk of shouldering millions in cleanup costs

 

Carson, Calif. — A new report from the Asian Pacific Environmental Network puts the cost of cleanup and remediation at the Phillips 66 refinery in Carson at up to $910 million — with no clear plan for who will pay. Advocates say SB 1259 (Blakespeare), the Refinery Transparency Act, would help protect communities from being blindsided by cleanup costs when refineries close.

The Phillips 66 Los Angeles refinery closed its doors at the end of 2025, leaving behind 100 years worth of contamination that could take an estimated 30-40 years to remediate.

“When refineries close in California, they do not give communities like Carson comprehensive plans, timelines, or cost estimates for how to clean-up the mess they’ve left behind. Californians need transparent disclosures so that local communities can plan for the future, and to help make sure that taxpayers are not left paying the clean-up bill.”– Katherine Chu, Asian Pacific Environmental Network (APEN)

Key findings from the report include: 

• Cleanup at the Carson site could cost up to $910 million, based on EPA cleanup benchmarks, California remediation guidance, and comparable refinery cleanup cases.
• Phillips 66 has publicly disclosed only $357 million in estimated decommissioning costs, with an even smaller share – roughly $129 million based on acreage – likely for the Carson refinery site. This leaves a potential funding gap of up to $781 million for the Carson site alone.
• If Phillips 66 doesn’t cover the entire cost of cleanup and remediation, California taxpayers and the City of Carson could be on the hook. 

The report shows similar cases of frontline communities being forced to foot the cost of gas and oil site cleanup, including Carson’s previous Shell Carousel tract where improper cleanup of the former 50-acre tank farm resulted in over $300 million of legal and remediation settlements. The estimates in the report cover the Carson refinery site alone – cleanup costs for both the Carson and Wilmington sites would be far higher.

Read the full report here.

To schedule an interview with the report author or speak to a Carson community member, contact Blake Marquez, Blake@sunstonestrategies.com, 310-897-6690.

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Download the Report

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From engaging in door knocking campaigns to speaking at city council meetings, APEN’s youth leadership in Carson plays an important role in our strategy to hold Phillip’s 66 accountable for remediation of their Carson refinery.

Through our advocacy, we were able to pass a resolution to create a taskforce to engage residents, community members, and environmental experts on the refinery remediation process.

Today we hear directly from Jonathan Garcia, a youth leader and Carson resident, on the impact of living so close to the refinery and the future of APEN’s work in the South Bay Harbor Gateway.

Hi, my name is Jonathan and I’m a member of APEN LA. I’ve been a part of that community for about two years now. A lot of our work recently has been focused on Phillips 66 and the refinery closure. 

To me that’s an issue that really hits home because I’ve lived near the major refinery complex in Carson my entire life. 

There’s a lot of pollution, noise, costs, occasional explosions that come with having to live near oil infrastructure. 

I didn’t realize I had asthma until my late high school years. A lot of my peers have breathing issues or cancer in their families. 

Recently, we received political education around the war in Iran and the connections between our national reliance on fossil fuels and our military aggression abroad. 

We discussed how the same fossil fuels that cause cancer, sickness, and death in our own neighborhoods drive resource wars and destruction overseas.

 Destructive forever wars like the war in Iran will keep happening and fossil fuels will keep poisoning our communities unless we transition fully to renewable energy. 

We want renewable energy investments in our people, schools, healthcare, and communities and that can only happen when we stop oil companies from squeezing as much profit as they can out of infrastructure, and declare bankruptcy leaving toxic sites that they refuse to clean up.

That’s why last year APEN LA mobilized and won a taskforce from the Carson City Council to oversee the Phillips 66 refinery closure. 

This coming year, APEN LA will focus on working with Carson City Council and the Planning Commission to build up this taskforce, meet with LA Regional Water Board to understand the remediation process for refinery grounds, and expand our youth membership so we can have a say in the clean up process.

Please donate to our spring fundraiser so we can continue to do this crucial work in Carson and the South Bay Harbor. 

In solidarity,

Jonathan Garcia

Youth Member, APEN Los Angeles

 

The post Holding Phillips 66 Accountable appeared first on Asian Pacific Environmental Network.

APEN’s Youth Leaders in Richmond have been at the forefront of our campaigns – protesting, gathering signatures, and giving testimony at city council meetings.

Audrey Min Thiphakhinkeo Paun is a vocal youth leader who has been heavily involved in the community input process to hold Chevron accountable to its Polluters Pay campaign promises. 

Today we hear from Min directly about the connections she’s making between the media, her experience with APEN, and her family’s history. 

Have you seen Pixar’s most recent release, Hoppers? It’s about environmental justice and some APEN Youth Leaders and I couldn’t help but notice the similarities between the work we do in Richmond and the themes of the movie.

The main character is Mabel. She’s an Asian American kid who develops a deep appreciation for nature through her grandmother. When the glen and stream she shared with her grandma is threatened by developers, Mabel tries to organize to fight back.

Mabel is characterized by everyone in the town as a troublemaker. But really she’s a passionate activist who keeps fighting to protect the environment! Like Mabel, APEN Youth Leaders like me know what it is like to organize to protect your city from harm.

In Richmond we organize against Big Oil. We rally outside Chevron’s gates to demand a Just Transition away from fossil fuels. Like Mabel, we’re not troublemakers. We’re changemakers!

Mabel spends time trying to get signatures for a petition, in efforts to stop the city from building an illegal and environmentally devastating beltway. But she gets rejected at every turn.

APEN Youth Leaders have experienced this when we canvass, too. We face immediate rejections and often more failures than successes. 

 It might take longer to convince people in our community but we’ve realized it’s important that we do not give up: change takes time and work! 

Another similarity between us and Mabel is that she repeatedly holds the mayor of her town accountable for his illegal and harmful infrastructure project.

We know what it is like to hold local elected officials responsible. 

APEN Youth Leaders have given testimony at key council meetings and rallied outside of city hall to demand change.

Last year, a grassroots coalition in Richmond that we are a part of, fought and won the Polluters Pay campaign. This win ensured that Chevron invested $550 million back into Richmond! Now, it’s time to deliver on the promise of the Polluters Pay campaign for the people of Richmond.

We want to make sure that these funds are invested back into the community.With these new resources, we can fund essential services and infrastructure – like safe, walkable streets, bike lanes, public hospitals, and neighborhood parks. 

We can invest in our local economy, reduce our dependence on Chevron, and plan for a Just Transition. The families and workers who have been most impacted by Chevron’s pollution must have a real voice in deciding how the funds are spent.

As changemakers, all of us Youth Leaders in Richmond are taking time to learn about the war in Iran and how it relates to environmental justice.

Right now, the U.S and Israel are spending billions of our tax dollars to terrorize the people of Iran, Lebanon and Palestine.

My mom immigrated to Richmond from Laos because of the Secret War, an often overlooked conflict during the Vietnam War.

During that time, the U.S. dropped 270 million bombs on a country about the size of California, making Laos the most heavily bombed nation in history.

As Asian immigrants and refugees, our families know devastating war and imperialism can be. 

That’s why I’m dedicated to learn and fight alongside my fellow youth leaders. 

APEN Youth Leaders are going to continue to do the work, hold electeds accountable, and live up to our responsibilities as change makers. 

I hope you’ll donate today so we can reach our spring campaign fundraising goal. You can help resource the work APEN is doing in LA, Oakland Chinatown, and of course, Richmond. 

You can join the change makers! Give today!

The post What’s next for APEN Youth Leaders? appeared first on Asian Pacific Environmental Network.