Under Our THUMS By Photographer and Contributor Steve Tabor
Under Our THUMS
by Steve Tabor
In the early 1930’s a large deposit of oil was discovered underneath the waters of the Port of Long Beach and the City of Long Beach. This deposit, known as the Wilmington Oil Field, became one of the largest oil fields in the continental United States. Original estimates put the capacity of the oil field at 7 billion barrels. From the mid-1930’s to the mid-1950’s the oil was removed from the field without backfilling the vacant spaces below the surface. Eventually, this caused land above the extraction sites to sink, a geological effect known as subsidence. In 1956, a drilling moratorium was enacted, and the City of Long Beach began working with the oil production companies to study how to negate this effect.
In 1962, a viable solution known as “waterflooding” was approved by the City of Long Beach and the drilling moratorium was lifted allowing for the development of the eastern part of the Wilmington field. Waterflooding allows the surface elevation to remain unchanged after the oil has been extracted by injecting recycled water into the voids created by the removal of the oil deposits.
In 1965, Texaco, Humble (later known as Exxon), Union, Mobil, and Shell formed a cooperative operation, known as THUMS, and successfully submitted a bid to operate oil production facilities under the waters of the Port of Long Beach and beneath a portion of the City of Long Beach. The Tidelands Oil Production Company (Tidelands) was authorized to engage in similar operations in adjacent areas of the Port of Long Beach. The City of Long Beach established an Oil and Gas Department, today known as Long Beach Energy Resources to oversee oil development and subsidence control for the City of Long Beach as well as collaborate with the State of California, THUMS, Tidelands and private mineral rights owners of Long Beach.
THUMS desired to establish oil production facilities on the waters of the Port of Long Beach but knew that traditional industrial-looking oil production platforms would be a visual distraction on the surrounding skylines. THUMS officials devised a plan calling for the construction of four artificial islands just offshore from Long Beach’s downtown area to house the oil production facilities and equipment and blend in with the downtown architecture.
Each island is constructed of approximately 640,000 tons of boulders, each stone weighing upwards of 5 tons and resting on the ocean floor to form the perimeter. The 3.2 million cubic yards of sand that fills the perimeter of each island were dredged from the bottom of the harbor. According to Sabrina Cisneros of CRC, “The landscaping on each island forms its own ecosystem that supports native plants, birds, and marine life. All four THUMS’s islands have award-winning habitat conservation programs certified by the Wildlife Habitat Council.”
Concealing the oil production equipment and facilities is accomplished using a variety of methods. Drilling rigs are placed in soundproof enclosures designed to mimic a high-rise condominium. Palm trees, concrete structures, waterfalls, and lighting are strategically placed to screen equipment that cannot be placed underground. The THUMS island landscape was designed by Joseph Linesch who also designed of the landscapes of Disneyland’s original attractions such as It’s a Small World.
Currently, THUMS operates 1,400 production and water injection wells that produce more than 17,000 barrels of oil per day. To date, THUMS total production has yielded more than 1 billion barrels of oil. Estimates indicate the combined operations of THUMS and Tidelands will eventually produce over 3 billion barrels of oil.
Occidental Petroleum acquired THUMS in 2000 and Tidelands in 2006. When Occidental decided to stop operating in California and relocated to Texas in 2014, its California assets, including THUMS and Tidelands, were spun off into a new company, California Resources Corporation (CRC). THUMS and Tidelands retain contracts to operate the Wilmington Oil Field on behalf of the City of Long Beach and State of California through the life of the field. CRC has made significant capital investments in the properties including upgraded facilities and which has funded essential government services and increased local employment.
The City of Long Beach owns the islands and oversees the oil field on behalf of the State Lands Commission (SLC). Development plans require annual approval by the City of Long Beach and the State. The SLC, along with 6,000 individual Long Beach mineral rights owners, control the field’s mineral rights.
Since 2003, oil production has yielded over $5 billion for the City of Long Beach, Los Angeles County, and the State. Over 2,000 local jobs are supported by the operations.
Oil and natural gas from THUMS islands and Tidelands are produced under California’s leading safety and environmental regulations. Cisneros states “Robust safety training is frequently conducted by operational personnel and CRC’s THUMS and Tidelands operations have an outstanding safety record.” The National Safety Council and other organizations have bestowed exemplary safety ratings for their practices and procedures. The islands also operate under strict environmental standards including detailed inspection and maintenance requirements and emission controls.
Additionally, CRC has set their own four 2030 Sustainability Goals focused on water conservation, renewables integration, methane emission reduction, and carbon capture and sequestration that directly align with the State of California’s goals. Both THUMS islands and Tidelands operations are leaders in the reduction of freshwater usage – these operations use about 99% recycled or reclaimed water in their process.
The islands were named in honor of four fallen NASA astronauts who died in the line of duty, Theodore Freeman, Virgil “Gus” Grissom, Edward White, and Roger Chaffee. The island dedicated to Freeman is twelve acres while the remaining three islands are 10 acres.
There’s More to the Story
Theodore Freeman was selected in 1963 to serve as an astronaut. The former test pilot was killed in a crash of his T-38 aircraft in 1964, making him the first astronaut fatality.
Gus Grissom was one of the original 7 astronauts in the Mercury program. His capsule, Liberty Bell 7, reached suborbital flight in July 1961. He later served at command pilot for Gemini 3, Molly Brown.
Edward White will long be remembered for being the first United States astronaut to walk in space during his Gemini 4 mission.
Roger Chaffee served in Mission Control as the Capsule Communicator for the flights of Gemini 3 and 4. Apollo 1 was slated to be his first space flight experience.
Gus Grissom, Edward White, and Roger Chaffee were killed in a fire that occurred during a training exercise as they were preparing for their Apollo 1 launch in 1967. The accident led to modifications in the spacecraft’s design and procedures.
Steve Tabor Bio
This South Bay native’s photographic journey began after receiving his first 35 mm film camera upon earning his Bachelor of Arts degree. Steve began with photographing coastal landscapes and marine life. As a classroom teacher he used photography to share the world and his experiences with his students. Steve has expanded his photographic talents to include portraits and group photography, special event photography as well as live performance and athletics. Steve serves as a volunteer ranger for the Catalina Island Conservancy and uses this opportunity to document the flora and fauna of the island’s interior as well as photograph special events and activities.
Watch for Steve Tabor Images on the worldwide web.
