LONG BEACH, CALIF. USA -- Low clouds can be seen rolling past Island White from the view from Bluff Park in Long Beach, Calif. on October 10, 2011.
THUMS Islands are a set of four artificial islands off the coast of Long Beach that were built to tap into the East Wilmington Oil Field. The landscaping and sound walls were designed to camouflage the operation and reduce noise, and they are the only decorated oil islands in the United States.
the islands were named after the parent companies who bid for the island contract: Texaco, Humble Oil (now Exxon), Union Oil, Mobil Oil, and Shell Oil. The rim of the islands are made of 640,000 tons of boulders from Catalina Island, and the islands were then filled with 3.2 million cubic yards of dredged material from the bay.
The islands were renamed in 1967 after the three astronauts who died in the Apollo 1: Island Grissom, Island White, and Island Chaffee. The fourth island is named for Theodore Freeman, an astronaut who died while piloting a T-38 Talon jet for NASA.
The islands and operation were purchased by Occidental Petroleum in 2000
PHOTO: Clouds Roll Past Island White
About
This blog is a journal of Southern California, through the lens of Jeff Gritchen. It's updated frequently with pictures, photo tips and musings from the various assignments he covers as a staff photographer for the Press-Telegram and Torrance Daily Breeze.
Gritchen has been documenting the diverse city of Long Beach since 1998. He covers everything from the Cambodian community to prep sports to gang ridden neighborhoods to the annual running of the Long Beach Grand Prix. He covered destruction Hurricane Katrina brought to Long Beach, Mississippi and traveled to Southeast Asia to document a rural Cambodian girl's as she traveled to the U.S. for life-altering heart surgery. He has won numerous state and national awards, including an international NPPA Best of Photojournalism award in 2003 and Best News Photo from the Los Angeles Press Club in 2010. In 2011, the photo staffs of the Long Beach Press-Telegram and Torrance Daily Breeze merged. Now he covers all of Southern Los Angeles County. He can be contacted at
jeff.gritchen@presstelegram.com
Gritchen has been documenting the diverse city of Long Beach since 1998. He covers everything from the Cambodian community to prep sports to gang ridden neighborhoods to the annual running of the Long Beach Grand Prix. He covered destruction Hurricane Katrina brought to Long Beach, Mississippi and traveled to Southeast Asia to document a rural Cambodian girl's as she traveled to the U.S. for life-altering heart surgery. He has won numerous state and national awards, including an international NPPA Best of Photojournalism award in 2003 and Best News Photo from the Los Angeles Press Club in 2010. In 2011, the photo staffs of the Long Beach Press-Telegram and Torrance Daily Breeze merged. Now he covers all of Southern Los Angeles County. He can be contacted at
jeff.gritchen@presstelegram.com
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