protecting nature

The berm or hill around the refinery is unique to other refineries in that it is both very beautiful with all its flowers and landscaping, and functional as well. It serves as a barrier against noise and if there’s an incident, it can act as a barrier to spills or explosions.

The endangered El Segundo Blue Butterfly has a permanent home on the refinery’s two-acre preserve, which is maintained by the refinery and is one of the only two remaining preserves in the world. In the mid 1980s, there were only 400 of these fragile butterflies. Today, there are more than 10,000 butterflies that flourish at our preserve. The flight season for the El Segundo Blue Butterfly is usually six to eight weeks long during July and August.  Learn more by reading our fact sheet. 

The refinery has a Noise Monitoring and Early Warning System that allows us to identify and work to control noise from the refinery and reduce its impact on the community and effect on our employees’ health. The system is composed of microphones and analyzers that send data to a computer for analysis. Should an alarm be triggered, our on-site, 24-hour Battalion Chief has the real-time information to act immediately to respond to and mitigate any noise issues.

Think of the refinery much like your car when you get on the interstate and turn on the cruise control. That is how the facility operates 24 hours a day, seven days a week. There is no increase in the amount of work performed during the evening hours, but the ambient noise levels around the refinery drop at nighttime due to decreased air and motor vehicle traffic. Occasionally, there are plant shutdowns and startups that may cause a short-term increase in the noise levels. If you have any questions or concerns about noise from the refinery, please contact our 24-Hour Community Hotline at 310.615.5342.