More Photos & Videos from Tri-Valley CAREs

Beauty Beneath the Surface- Makaela Gabriel

When I was a child, my mom used to take my sister and me to Big Trees Park in Livermore. To us, it was more than a park —it was where our childhood lived. We spent long, sunlit afternoons running barefoot through the grass, laughing without a care in the world.

I remember the smell of freshly cut grass and the way sunlight filtered through the tall trees, creating golden patterns on the ground. My sister and I would race to the swings, taking turns pushing each other higher and higher, as if we could touch the sky. The creak of the swings mixed with our laughter and the sounds of birds overhead. It felt safe. It felt pure.

Now, at 16, I see this place differently.

I’ve learned that Big Trees Park has a hidden history —one not visible in its beauty. In the 1990s, the park was found to have plutonium-239 contamination, likely from sewage sludge originating from or near Lawrence Livermore National Laboratory and the Livermore Water Reclamation Plant. Some levels were reported to be far higher than normal. Although agencies later stated it did not pose an “unacceptable” health risk, the idea that something so dangerous could exist where children play is deeply unsettling.

The park still looks the same. Trees glow in the sunlight. Children still laugh.

But now I understand that protecting the environment isn’t just about preserving beauty —it’s about ensuring the places we trust are truly safe, even when danger is invisible.

Aperture: 2.2
Camera: Galaxy S23 Ultra
Iso: 320

Aperture: 6.3
Camera: ILCE-7M4
Iso: 100

Portland, Oregon is often hailed as an environmental and progressive utopia. However, the reality is that there are, and have been since its inception, systematic injustices at the heart of its environmental ethos. The construction of Portland Interstate Five corridor is a prime example of this inconsistent identity. The creation of Portland's I-5 was a model of environmental injustice masquerading as urban renewal. The city bulldozed hundreds of homes in the historically black Albina neighborhood with some home owners receiving as little as 50 dollars in compensation for their displacement. The project ripped the neighborhood apart and subjected the remaining residents to pollution and the health impacts that come with it. Today, the Oregon Department of Transportation is in the process of widening a section of I-5 near the Rose Quarter. Greenwashed and billed as a new socially conscious infrastructure process, the city is seemly ignoring that the widening project will not only run closer to Harriet Tubman Middle School bringing more pollution, require the demolition of a neighborhood bike bridge, on top of the glaring fact that ODOT’s own commission determined that widening I-5 will not be a long term solution to traffic. The city of Portland is headed down a path of recreating the disasters of its 1960s urban renewal greenwashed in today's language. Portland must decide if it will continue down this path or change course to align its actions with the identity it seeks to espouse.

Aperture: 1.7
Camera: Galaxy S23 Ultra
Iso: 500

Aperture: 6.3
Camera: ILCE-7M4
Iso: 100

Polymer Storm- Jaxyn Good, Ian Kapsalis, Milo Jones and Eric Liang

This is our creative rendition of microplastic pollution found in the atmosphere. We used steel wool to create a storm of burning embers. In the center is a masked individual using an umbrella as a shield from the storm. The burning embers are used to emphasize the unseen threat to our immediate environment. Microplastics are an environmental concern because their size renders
them accessible to a wide range of organisms, with potential for physical and toxicological harm
(Law and Thompson). Plastic products from daily life and particles generated by tire and road wear are identified as primary sources of microplastic pollution in the global biosphere with rainwater, snowfall, and wind acting as conduits for their transport (Wei et al.). Recent evidence indicates that humans constantly inhale and ingest microplastics; however, whether these contaminants pose a substantial risk to human health is far from understood (Vethaak and
Legler). We wanted to use our image to draw attention to this environmental issue. We aim to
raise public and governmental awareness about the consumption and production of plastic, make an increased effort in plastic waste management, and promote research into the physical and toxicological implications of microplastics on living organisms.

Aperture: 1.7
Camera: Galaxy S23 Ultra
Iso: 640

Aperture: 9
Camera: ILCE-7M4
Iso: 100

There they are—massive humpbacks painted across the digester tanks of the Livermore Water Reclamation Plant, set against rolling hills on one side and the rush of CA-84 on another. Bold reminders of how our everyday actions shape the environment.

Darren Greenwood, then water resources manager of this facility, painted these murals as a
message to the community: what flows down our drains and storm sewers ultimately affects marine life in the Bay. Wastewater from every shower, every dishwasher, the chlorine we use, and the microplastics from our laundry travel through an unseen system beneath our feet, arriving at this round-the-clock operation that treats 2.3 billion gallons of wastewater annually.
About 1.5 billion gallons of this treated wastewater is discharged into the San Francisco Bay, and 0.8 billion gallons are recycled for local irrigation and fire protection. Items like wipes, grease, and other solids are screened out at the plant and often end up in landfills. Even in advanced treatment facilities, managing wastewater at this scale comes with environmental costs, and small amounts of contaminants can still pass through, harming aquatic ecosystems. Climate change is already warming and acidifying these same waters, stressing
the very marine life painted on these walls.

There's irony in that. And urgency.
Every thoughtless pollutant down the drain connects local homes to this facility, to the Bay, to the ocean. The next time you drive down CA-84, look at these bright blue whales—caught between science and scenery, humans and machinery, art and reality.