In the 1920s drillers began exploring the long band of hills along the Newport–Inglewood Fault zone, suspecting it was an anticlinal structure capable of holding oil.

[3][4] Before long a number of refineries were up and running, with over 350 oil derricks, tank farms, and sprawling industrial complexes becoming a familiar part of the scenery.

[6] The spot where Burnham found oil was land where "as a small boy (in the 1870s) he used to graze cattle, and shoot game which he sold to the neighboring mining districts to support his widowed mother and infant brother.

[7] In 2010, Occidental Petroleum Corporation expressed interest in redeveloping the former Dominguez oil field using modern extraction technologies.

The company proposed drilling as deep as 2.5 miles (4.0 km), from a 6.5 acre site at Charles Willard St. and Bishop Ave in Carson, then turning horizontally to get better access.