Fracking Foes Form Message Along Long Beach Bluff Beach Captured By Drone Digital Pic: "No Fracking"
by Barry Saks
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(August 2, 2016, 2:30 p.m.) -- About fifty environmental activists recently used aerial drone photography to send a message from a Long Beach beachfront by aligning their bodies on the sand to spell out "No (hydraulic) Fracking." The drone above captured the sight below (in photo below.)
Hydraulic fracking is a technique the energy industry uses to extract oil and gas from rock by injecting mixtures of water, sand or gravel and chemicals.
On Saturday July 30, the activists first gathered in Bluff Park (above the beach between Cherry and Junipero Aves.), posed against a park mural, then headed down to the beach and arranged themselves on the sand for the drone photo captured by Kurt Lieber, President of the Ocean Defenders Alliance (photos below used by permission.)
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Photo via The EcoMedia Compass Facebook page
Graphic via The EcoMedia Compass Facebook page; Drone photo credit: Kurt Lieber, Ocean Defenders Alliance
The anti-fracking activists promoted the event on the "Stop Fracking Long Beach" Facebook page as "Keep It In The Ground Day."
One participant was Eddie Rosales, who said he was among the founders of Stop Fracking Long Beach. Rosales said he built the model oil derrick displayed on the beach, that he lives in California Heights and has lived in Long Beach for 43 years. He acknowledged that no fracking is currently done in Long Beach but said he's worried about existing well maintenance and the future if oil production becomes more economically feasible in Long Beach.
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Noe Ramirez, his wife Sandra Acosta, and their two children also participated. Ramirez and Acosta said they were both working toward their Master's degrees. Acosta added they were interested in starting an indigenous social justice research center someday.
Another activist was Kerry Morrison, Executive Director of the The EcoMedia Compass. While Mr. Morrison said he was there "to connect people with media," he also said it was important for environmental activists to support each other more generally.
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According to a flyer distributed in advance, participating organizations included Stop Fracking Long Beach, Greenpeace, 350.org, Food and Water Watch, the Sierra Club and the Long Beach Chapter of the Surfrider Foundation. Also participating as noted above was The EcoMedia Compass.
