'I will defend my home': how the daughter of immigrants achieved the closure of an oil well in Los Angeles

Naleli Kobo was nine years old when she began to suffer from asthma, headaches and nosebleeds, says Air force... The girl's mother soon noticed that the neighbors were showing the same symptoms.

Photo: Shutterstock

The Naleli Kobo family lived in a suburb of Los Angeles, populated mainly by poor immigrants from Latin America.

There was an Allenco oil well nearby.

The local community began to organize protests, arguing that the diseases of the inhabitants were caused by dirty emissions from oil production.

In the end, the well was suspended. But Naleli Kobo, who had grown up by that time, did not calm down.

Together with other activists and environmental organizations, she began to seek through the courts from the city to introduce additional safety standards for the oil industry. And she won.

The court is currently considering a criminal case against Allenco and its management.

The company itself declined to comment. Earlier, its representatives said that they have invested additional funds to comply with the new rules.

Kobo became a local celebrity and managed to participate in environmental campaigns with Swedish activist Greta Thunberg. But in early 2020, she had to take a break: a 19-year-old girl was diagnosed with cancer.

Photo: instagram.com/nallelicobo

Doctors could not find the cause of the disease.

After three operations and intensive treatment, doctors say that the girl has recovered.

This is how she herself tells the story:

“I grew up in the University Park area of ​​south Los Angeles. Across the road from our house there was an oil well, which was owned by the Allenco company since 2009.

We lived in one apartment - me, three brothers and sisters, mother, grandmother, great-grandmother and great-grandfather - eight people in total.

My mom came from Mexico and my dad from Colombia. He was deported when I was two years old.

In 2010, I suddenly fell ill. It all started with bouts of nausea and abdominal cramps.

I was so weak that I felt like a frozen vegetable. Mom sometimes had to carry me in her arms.

Then the nosebleeds started - so bad that I slept sitting up so as not to choke on my own blood. An invisible killer was stalking me in my own home.

And others started having health problems.

My mother fell ill with asthma at the age of 40, which is rare, and my grandmother at 70, which is even rarer. My sister developed pulmonary fibrosis, and my brother developed asthma.

Photo: instagram.com/nallelicobo

This affected not only our family. The same thing happened with the neighbors.

The mothers began to discuss this with each other and came to the conclusion that something was wrong here.

However, it was not difficult to guess. Strange smells arose in the air every now and then. It smelled of rotten eggs, guava, and chocolate, even with the windows closed and the air purifiers on.

We first looked for some kind of leak in the house. Then they found toxicologists who agreed to come and find out.

They explained that it was all about certain chemicals that are used in oil production and are harmful to health if you breathe them for a long time.

Then we organized ourselves and started a campaign under the motto: “People, not wells!”

A complaint was filed with the Department of Air Control and the Los Angeles City Council. The council has scheduled a hearing. The activists walked around the houses and asked people if they would like to come and tell their stories.

It was so great: the migrants will come to the city council to be heard!

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I agreed to participate, although I was always shy. She performed, peeping at notes on small pieces of paper. I like it.

The Los Angeles Times wrote about the hearings. Former California Senator Barbara Boxer drew attention to the story.

On her initiative, inspectors from the Environmental Protection Agency came to our quarter, and they immediately felt sick from the smells.

Ultimately, Allenco had to suspend production of the well. We were happy, although it took a while. Our campaign began in 2010 and the well was temporarily shut down in 2013.

In 2016, Los Angeles authorities through a court ordered the company to comply with strict rules in order to resume drilling. We are striving to close the well completely.

Starting the campaign, we made sure that we are not alone. About 580 Los Angeles citizens, mostly of poor ethnic minorities, live within a quarter of a mile of active oil and gas wells.

When I say that I'm from Los Angeles, people immediately exclaim: “Oh, the Walk of Fame, Hollywood, the stars...”. But Los Angeles is also the largest oil field within the city, something that is not usually talked about.

I co-founded the South Central Los Angeles Young Leaders Coalition. In 2015, we filed a lawsuit against the city for California environmental violations.

We won. This means a new procedure for filing applications for drilling new wells and expanding production on existing ones.

Although I have moved from University Park, I am now pushing for a 2500-foot (750 m) buffer zone between oil wells and schools, hospitals and parks.

At the same time, I am an ordinary girl. I love makeup, dance, travel, and go to college. What makes me different from others? I decided early on what I wanted to do in life.

On January 15, 2020, I was diagnosed with cancer.

I was scared to pronounce this word. No one expects to hear it applied to themselves at age 19.

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Mom and I, of course, were worried about the bills for the treatment. But we were lucky to raise the required amount through crowdfunding.

The hardest thing physically and mentally was to survive the removal of the uterus. It took me six weeks to get out of bed. For six months my mother bathed me, and I took dozens of pills.

My oncologist doesn't know why I developed cancer, but tests show that it is not hereditary.

I told where I came from and asked if there were tests that could establish a connection between the disease and the state of the environment. The doctor replied that at the current level of science, this can only be guessed at.

Photo: instagram.com/nallelicobo

And on January 18 of this year, they announced to me that I was cured. There are no words, how happy I am!

Now I will continue my studies as a civil rights lawyer, and in the future I dream of becoming a politician.

My understanding of environmental justice is simple: everyone has the right to breathe clean air, regardless of age, gender, nationality, income and place of residence. And I will protect my home and my neighbors."

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