[PARADISE] Black Gold Facade: Los Santos's Hidden Oil Rigs and How They Effect You

[ChromaticDeath]

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In the land where cash is king, your silence is bought and sold for free.
Los Santos has a long and troubled past with urban oil extraction dating back to its inception.
At around a population of 50,000 in 1900, Los Santos started as a strange place - that defied God himself.
Water was brought through to the valley through the creation of the Land Act reservoir, flooding Tatavium to benefit the city.
Fresh water was never meant to be here, and in as much, neither were the entertainment or tourism industry. LS is an oil town.




Oil Fields, circa 1930. Image provided courtesy of LS Public Records.

By the thirties, Los Santos had become one of the most important oil drilling sites in the United States.
San Andreas was responsible for nearly a quarter of the world's oil output alone, with most operations taking place on the island itself.
Oil derricks were so plentiful at one point, the LS Times described them as 'dense as a forest'. Thousands dotted the land, from Vespucci to Idlewood.
Over time, these derricks 'disappeared' as the suburbs expanded to take them over and drilling operations were made more efficient.
The public was assured that there were no health detriments, and that the drilling had ceased in their neighborhoods.


 

Another oil field c. 1930, image provided by LS Public Records.

--But if there's anything you should know as an American, it's to never trust corporations, nor the government.
This profitable industry did not vanish- it just went underground where the people who "matter" would complain about it.
Those oil wells that still exist have been covered to hide them from prying eyes, many of which exist in the heart of the city.





 Take the Rockford Plaza for example. That strange round protrusion in the middle is not an elevator. The elevator is to the right.
What's the point in covering them? Well, when your city goes from heavy industry to a showbiz town, appearances are everything.
Los Santos is a superficial place; plastic people and false smiles. The facade runs to the very core.
Being fake is what makes Los Santos, Los Santos. It wouldn't be the same place without actors.





Morningwood's synagogue sports a small derrick tucked away to the left of this image, disguised as a tower.
Rockford Hills High school, until recently, sported the 'Tower of Faith', an oil rig painted in - flowers, ironically.
It was positioned on the school's football field, and was only removed after mass lobbying from parents who brought up the health concerns.
More on those health concerns later. The point is, the drilling is not gone, and despite becoming less visible, never ceased, even for a day.






The city of Los Santos has zero statutes in place to create a minimum safe distance from drilling rigs and residences.
In fact, according to a study conducted in 2021, 75% of active wells are within 2,000 feet of homes, schools, parks, and retirement homes.
So- it's really no wonder they want to disguise everything, is it? It's ugly and brutalist. More importantly, it's downright reckless.
Today, there are approximately 10,000 active, idle, or unused wells across the entirety of both the island and the greater coastal area.


 


Even the beaches are not safe, as a massive oil tap was found underneath the coast of San Andreas, north of East Beach.
The response to this? The THUMS islands. Texaco, Humble, Union, Mobil, and Shell teamed up to create a set of artificial islands...
...To more efficiently extract oil, while making it appear that there are just funny little innocuous and colorful islands off the coast.
While there have been no major incidents from the THUMs that have made headlines since the 70s, as recently as 2022 a slick was sighted.
This comes only a year after the disastrous 120,000 gallon spill in East Beach, which was caused by a ship's anchor piercing a tanker.



 


"But Ash", I hear you cry, kicking your feet and slamming your desk. "What about Murietta Oil Fields?"
That's a very good point, I'm glad you brought it up. There's a reason those rigs aren't hidden, and it isn't pretty.
The short answer? It's because for as long as Los Santos has existed, the voices of the impoverished has not mattered. At all.
Drilling is allowed to continue so close to houses through Fudge Lane one could throw a rock and hit a derrick from their porch.






Rancho isn't much better, sporting a small five-rig operation directly across from the Jamestown Housing Project, and within view of a playground.
Now we breach into the moral and ethical concerns of drilling: It is not a safe practice, nor is it a particularly clean one.
Oil wells give off waste chemicals such as Benzene, as well as other carcinogens - freely handed out to Southlanders.
A full study has not been done into the side effects of exposure to drilling platforms, but the outlook isn't good.








The oil and natural gas extracted from these communities is then piped perpendicular to the Los Santos River toward Cypress Flats for processing.
Excess fuel is jettisoned to the Tatavium Mountains Aurum Energy plant, where it is burned to provide power alongside wind turbines.
Black smoke in the air, a toxic haze over the city, but hey guys, it's alright, because look at the pretty spinny windmills?
Aurum Energy provides the majority of the power in Los Santos- If you've got a power bill, it goes to them.
Make no mistake- Aurum is not the bad guy here. It's the government for allowing them to do as they do.



 


In conclusion, Los Santos and its private corporations are giving minorities cancer, and they're making you pay for it.
If you want our impoverished (usually non-white) brothers and sisters to stop being exploited like this, you're in luck:
You can contact your local gov't and lobby for change to zoning codes and how oil can be extracted on land and sea.
As of the writing of this article, I have found no proposed bills to put a stop to urban drilling on LS Island.
Only you, the reader, can change that.





 

PARADISE Vol. I: First Impressions

PARADISE Vol. II: Sodom & Gomorrah

PARADISE Vol. III: Streets of Fire
PARADISE Vol. IV: What the Hell?

PARADISE: Dangers of Society

PARADISE: January Riots
PARADISE: Battle of LS
PARADISE: Stormfront
PARADISE: Blood&Palms
 

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((Character Thread))

Edited January 18 by ChromaticDeath

[Onumbra]

Username: Anonymous

Comment: oil drilling and fracking is just an illusion, """"THE ELITE""" uses this to dig tunnels underground

[Zetara]

Username: ButchParadise

Comment: Interesting article! Funny that I had been considering mentioning it offhand in my next article. Guess I don't have to now!

[Al-Malikah]

Username:  LSVixen
Comment: Will be using this expose as a future basis for interview question with City Council candidates and gov't types. Let this be their warning.

[ChromaticDeath]

23 hours ago, Onumbra said:

Username: Anonymous

Comment: oil drilling and fracking is just an illusion, """"THE ELITE""" uses this to dig tunnels underground

Username: AshParadise
Comment: I think there's always a little truth to everything. Who knows, but I can tell you the drilling is real. Could still be tunnels.
 

 

23 hours ago, Zetara said:

Username: ButchParadise

Comment: Interesting article! Funny that I had been considering mentioning it offhand in my next article. Guess I don't have to now!

Username: AshParadise
Comment: You can always reference it. Just link the article, Butch. We'll work on it together. Office is almost done.

 

23 hours ago, Al-Malikah said:

Username:  LSVixen
Comment: Will be using this expose as a future basis for interview question with City Council candidates and gov't types. Let this be their warning.

Username: AshParadise
Comment: Looking forward to seeing it. Keep me in the loop, you know how to find me, Vix.