Residents of the city live right next to one of the biggest oil refineries in the country and share their space with giant machines.

An oil well pumps next to yard containing junked hearses and ambulances near Signal Hill in Long Beach, California, on May 29, 2003.

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Oil wells in Venice, California, bringing oil up from beach area in 1952.

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An oil well pumps in a newly constructed neighborhood near Shell Oil Company Alamitos No. 1 discovery well on Signal Hill in Long Beach, California, on May 30, 2003.

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Inglewood Oil Field, near Culver City. Hundreds of wells dot this nearly 1,000 acre field, the largest contiguous oil-producing site in the Los Angeles area.

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A pumpjack operates in the parking lot of a McDonald's restaurant in Signal Hill, California.

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Pumpjacks in the parking lot of Curley's Cafe, Signal Hill, California.

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A single older steel oil derrick in Signal Hill.

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Old steel derrick towers on a hillside in Brea Canyon.

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A rig pumps oil from the Inglewood oil field, as visitors enjoy the nearby Kenneth Hahn State Recreation Area, in the unincorporated Windsor Hills area of Los Angeles, on Friday, February 12, 2010.

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Paul Ferrazzi holds a jar of brown-tinged water from local wells in the unincorporated Windsor Hills area of Los Angeles on February 12, 2010.

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A new tower undergoes construction among various structures and palm trees that are used to camouflage oil extraction operations on Island White, one of four such oil drilling islands operated by THUMS Long Beach Company, which is owned by Occidental Petroleum Corporation, in Long Beach, California, on July 30, 2013.

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An aerial view of Grissom Island, one of four oil drilling islands in San Pedro Bay, off the coast of Long Beach. The four islands contain nearly 1,500 wells, accessible by movable derricks.

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An oil well pumps in a newly constructed neighborhood near Shell Oil Company Alamitos No. 1 discovery well on Signal Hill in Long Beach on May 30, 2003.

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Pumpjacks operate near an on-ramp leaving Atlantic Avenue in Long Beach.

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A camouflaged oil derrick (center) in operation beside the athletic fields and buildings of Beverly Hills High School.

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A decorated oil derrick looms over Beverly Hills High School, background, and the derrick's service compound in this view from the southwest on February 25, 2003.

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The Packard Well Site is a drilling location disguised to look like a nondescript office building from street level. Inside a derrick is free to move about on tracks, accessing any of the 50 wells in operation.

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Cardiff Tower, a camouflaged oil drilling site on West Pico Boulevard with 40 active wells in the Beverly Hills Oil Field.

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Oil rig pumpjacks extract crude from the Wilmington Field oil deposits area where Tidelands Oil Production Company, which is owned by Occidental Petroleum Corporation (Oxy), operates near Long Beach, California, on July 30, 2013.

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Pumpjacks on the Coyote Hills Golf Course (lower right), and among the nearby houses (upper left), in Placentia, California.

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Oil wells pump next to the municipal cemetery near Signal Hill on May 29, 2003 in Long Beach, California.

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A fenced-off pumpjack operates behind the Signal Hill PetSmart, near Home Depot.

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Pumps draw petroleum from oil wells near a home and a limousine in Signal Hill, California, on March 6, 2008.

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