Wednesday Vignette: Clouds, natural and not

Last week, in the early morning under gray skies, I noticed some odd cloud formations and immediately grabbed my camera.  As I framed my photo, I realized that these weren't clouds at all but rather vapor produced by heat - and who knows what else - released by the oil refinery located about 15 miles to the northeast.

If you look closely at the horizon, you can make out at least 18 columns of vapor.  I've periodically seen flames from what I assume are exhaust flues but I've never noticed a mass of vapor emissions like this; however, my husband says he's seen this before during the evening hours.  It may be that the vapor plumes were just more noticeable than usual due to the cold damp air.

Maybe it looks innocuous from a distance but the facts are more than a little scary.  This refinery was the site of a serious explosion 2 years ago.  Local residents scheduled a protest at the site marking the anniversary of that event on February 17th, only to have their plans scuttled by another explosion and fire at the refinery.   A fuller discussion of the 2015 incident and the concerns arising from it can be found here.  With the Environmental Protection Agency now under the leadership of an individual who's expressed interest in dismantling many of the agency's existing protections, it's unclear what assistance residents of the South Bay can expect in addressing the refinery's ongoing problems.

To end this post on a more positive note, here's a photo of real clouds at sunset the day before yesterday.

View looking roughly southeast toward Angel's Gate, the entrance to the Los Angeles Harbor, with the pink of the clouds reflected in the ocean below

For more Wednesday Vignettes, visit Anna at Flutter & Hum.


All material © 2012-2017 by Kris Peterson for Late to the Garden Party