Image from LAT Article: A rendering of proposed Five Points Union project in Wilmington that would replace the existing Phillips 66 refinery. (Deca Cos.)
By Roger Vincent
Staff Writer
Oct. 22, 2025 3 AM PT
“Oil giant Phillips 66, operator of a massive oil refinery near the Port of Los Angeles, has unveiled plans to replace its belching smokestacks and hulking steel tanks with stores, restaurants and soccer fields.
Phillips 66 announced last year that it would close the century-old refinery and remove it to make way for a new development intended to provide services and recreation for people who live nearby, along with warehouses to serve the port…”
Image from LAT article: A view of the Phillips 66 oil refinery in Wilmington. It will be replaced by retail shops, restaurants, soccer fields and warehouses serving port operations. (Deca Cos.)
“…One important element of the redevelopment plan, McOsker said, is the removal of liquid butane tanks just south of the refinery on Gaffey Street.
The tanks hold a combined 25 million gallons of butane, which many consider dangerous, he said.
The tanks were constructed in the 1970s to safety standards at the time, but standards ‘have dramatically changed in the 50 years since,’ he said. ‘No 25-million-gallon butane tank would ever be allowed adjacent to a residential neighborhood in the United States today.’
The refinery’s massive fuel storage tanks, distillation towers and sprawling pipeline have also been a long-standing source of community concern. In recent years, complaints of acrid odors, fiery accidents, soot and harmful emissions gained new resonance as public officials became more sensitive to accusations of environmental damage.
‘Phillips 66 in L.A. is an old refinery. It’s had a lot of problems with flaring and fires in recent years and high levels of pollution,’ Julia May, senior scientist for Communities for a Better Environment, told The Times last year. ‘It may have just been out-competed by the rest of the refineries.’
The proposed redevelopment of the site would require city approval and successful remediation of underground pollution overseen by the Los Angeles Regional Water Quality Control Board…”