• stoly@lemmy.world
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    18 hours ago

    Well LA was built up around gold, oil, and cinema. You don’t get LA without those three haha.

    You will commonly be along Wilshire and see a spot where nobody can park or walk because there’s raw petroleum just sitting on the street or sidewalk. It will smell like oil but I think people just accept it.

    • Catoblepas@lemmy.blahaj.zone
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      15 hours ago

      Is there even anything you can do about the tar pits, though? That’s a natural asphalt seep, and new (smaller) spots are always popping up nearby

      • stoly@lemmy.world
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        13 hours ago

        Petroleum and salt - often found together - are much lighter than the rest of the crust and tend to move up to the surface. SoCal has a lot of these spots. I am sure that people started building up LA long before anyone realized what was down there, or before petroleum even had a use.