Brian Ferrer, RN, has a front row seat to the health consequences and sees what happens to patients exposed to our environmental toxins.

That’s why he had to speak out earlier this month at the LA City Health Commission meeting.

“As a health care professional, I feel a responsibility to shed light on this issue,” Ferrer told the commission. “The toxins released into the environment during extraction and production of oil can lead to respiratory illness, cancer, damage to the nervous system, heart disease, reproductive disruption and irritation to the eyes, nose or skin. Residents living near oil drilling continue to present with these symptoms.”

Afterwards the commission voted to support a 2,500-foot health and safety zone around all oil and gas extractions facilities in LA, which has one of the largest urban oilfields in the country.

“Urban drilling does not belong in our communities,” said Ferrer, who works in the oncology unit at Keck Hospital of University of Southern California. “Let us stand together to lead the way for a healthy, sustainable and equitable future for all Angelenos.”