ead liners? we go inside the making of a tween star. plus toxic threat. tens of millions of americans live in the shadow of oil refineries. but many of the facilities use a chemical that can kill on contact. and a recent accident has one community living in fear. tonight, brian ross investigates. and blitz. opposition forces in libya surge towards the capital. their target? an increasingly shrill leader. our cameras are there. the fight for libya is on. >> announcer: from the global resources of abc news with terry moran, cynthia mcfadden and bill weir in new york city this is "nightline," february 24th, 2011. >> good evening, i'm cynthia mcfadden. we begin tonight with entertainment. and some of the biggest and youngest stars. many aren't even old enough to vote. and yet, their audience is

massive, large enough to make nickelodeon star miranda cosgrove's show "icarly," among the highest rated on cable, with 40 million viewers a week. the question is, what does it really take to make it big, and is it worth it? juju chang as our report. >> reporter: she seems so famous, so familiar. but who the heck is she? >> thank you. >> reporter: if all goes according to plan it won't be long before the answer is as obvious as miley, the jonases, selina and demi. >> hair trouble. welcome to the life of a teenage superstar in the making. ♪ don't know where you are now ♪ >> reporter: she's got her own tv show already. >> today we are on the set of my "seventeen" prom cover shoot.

>> reporter: and magazines. and music videos. ♪ so what i'm gonna do now ♪ ♪ is freak the freak out ♪ >> i want to release an album and i want my songs to be on the radio and i'd love to do a tour and do movies at the same time. ♪ i scream your name ♪ >> reporter: her name is victoria justice. >> i just hope it all works out, i think. because, you know, my family moved out to l.a. for me and i want to be able to you know buy a house for my parents and i want my sister, i'm going to get choked up. >> reporter: she gets emotional, in part because she's still refreshingly candid. but perhaps also because at 18 she's worked hard in show business for more than half her life. >> i was watching tv one day and a kid on a commercial came on screen and i started yelling, i was like, mom, mom, she came in the room, and i was like i want

to try that. >> reporter: she did her first national tv ad when she was 8 years old. >> it's amazing. >> reporter: half irish, half puerto rican. >> when i was 11 i had done 30 commercials, i modeled for a bunch of different people which was really cool. but at that point, i was getting older and i was like i want to do tv and film i want to move out to l.a. i want to really go for it. >> reporter: i want to be an actor. >> yes. >> i think victoria justice is going to be one of the biggest stars in the world within five years. i think the girl is going to be making $10 million a movie. >> reporter: and dan synder knows what he's talking about. he's nickelodeon's star makers. he created "icarly," "zewe 101" and "drake and josh." she was just 12 when she was kags cast on "zewesee"so zoe 101."

what does she have? >> she has charisma. >> reporter: she created a show called victorious just for her, set in a performing arts high school. >> this is not just a high school. these kids are all artsy and creative and talented and i'm just normal. >> reporter: do you want to be a movie star? >> yeah. >> reporter: or a singing star -- >> i want to do both. >> reporter: you want it all. >> why not? >> reporter: but victoria is just one of a slew of young would be starlets loaded with talent and hoping to land roles in shows aimed at the growing and lucrative tween audience. boys and girls age 9 to 12 who spend about $43 billion annually. sizable, powerful market. >> i think the whole kids tv thing really snuck up on the entertainment business in a way. so, now, people really pay attention. the big agents want to sign the

kids who star in these shows. >> reporter: victoria's family was living in hollywood, florida, but hollywood, california proved irresistible. >> we came and brought my other daughter. my husband met us as well. and we never went home. >> reporter: but no mother wants their kid to sacrifice their childhood chasing fame. victoria's mom serene is her manager, as well. sfwlit's like hitting the jackpot. getting your own show is just like winning the lotto. >> reporter: were you ever sort of held back about the fears of whatever a child star's life might end up looking like? >> i didn't even think that far, i just thought, well we'll give it a shot. >> reporter: do you ever wonder if people are thinking that you're a stage mom pushing her and, you know, trying to milk everything you can? >> no. that's not something i think about. i'm totally fine to go back to florida and go back to our

regular life. >> reporter: and what about the curse of the child star? >> i think you get lost in it when it becomes your world. when it becomes your everything. i think you have to realize that it's a job. >> reporter: but you get the sense from her this isn't just a job. it's her life. we caught up with her shooting a prison musical spoof on the set of "victorious." she had been working until 3:00 in the morning. these are long hours you're working. >> they can be pretty long. they can be pretty long. i think if you love what you're doing, and with the cast you have so much fun, it doesn't feel like work. >> reporter: and yet it doesn't allow you a lot of down time to be with friends -- >> it doesn't. it can be difficult to tell people no, i can't, but it's kind of worth it. >> reporter: but how do you avoid the dark side of young fame? the one that britney, lindsay and generations of child stars have long battled? >> i always have to remember that there are kids that are 5, 6, 7 that are watching me and i'm not going to step outside and do something that, you know

they wouldn't be able to do too. >> reporter: describe the pressure on a kid when their family has picked up and moved across the country for their career. >> i think that victoria very much wanted to be an actor on her own. she was never pushed into it by a parent. but i've seen it happen where the kid sort of becomes this thorough bred horse in the family, like they own this racehorse and the income and the house, everything is on the shoulders of a kid. >> when your family gives up so much for you, and, not necessarily giving up they just really believe in me you know and it's -- it's really -- it makes me happy -- >> reporter: it's touching. >> yeah, it is and i just want to be able to like give that back to them in a major way. it's amazing that they did this for me. sorry. >> reporter: for this tween star, the sacrifices come with high hopes. >> i am really passionate about it, and i really -- i feel like it will work out. >> reporter: and you want it to. >> yeah totally.

>> reporter: for "nightline," i'm juju chang in los angeles. >> no small amount of pressure there. when we come back the toxic threat next door. millions of americans live near oil refineries. but many don't know how dangerous it could be. [ male announcer ] those with frequent heartburn imagine a day free of worry a day when we can eat what we want drink what we want, and sleep soundly through the night. finally that day has arrived with prevacid®24hr. just one pill helps keep you heartburn-free for a full 24 hours. prevent the acid that causes frequent heartburn all day, all night. now we are free. happy. with prevacid®24hr, happiness is a day without heartburn. opportunity can start anywhere. and go everywhere. to help revitalize a neighborhood in massachusetts,

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ia mcfadden. >> and now to energy. with all that's going on in the middle east the price of crude topped $100 a barrel yesterday for the first time since 2008. the turn that pricey crude into gas for the car, the oil, of course, must be refined. but investigators have found many refineries have failed to

properly maintain aging equipment. brian ross says that has led to grave concerns. brian? >> reporter: cynthia, the business of turning oil into gasoline involves lots of dangerous chemicals. but one chemical in particular has federal safety and homeland security officials very worried. and, as we found, for good reason. in corpus christy, texas, the warning sirens come all times of the day and night, from the oil refineries just down the street. >> you never know when you go to bed if you're going to live through the night, or if you have to run through the night. >> reporter: fear is a fact of life for miles around in this community. people wonder is it a test? a false alarm? or the real thing like the last time? >> you hear a whistle blow for a few minutes and you don't know if you're going to have an

explosion or what. >> reporter: few have forgotten what happened last time less than two years ago, when an explosion at the citgo refinery released a highly lethal chemical called hydro floralic acid that just barely missed the neighborhood. >> flames were straight down the street there at the refinery and some flames were coming over the top of those trees. >> reporter: now some residents keep a bag packed at the door ready to flee. >> the fear is there. and it's there for everybody. >> reporter: this is what they fear. an unchecked release of the hydro floralic acid. it's a risk far beyond just corpus christi. an abc news investigation with the center for public integrity if i, found 50 oil refine rips using the chemical from houston to minneapolis to los angeles to philadelphia and in between. putting some 16 million unsuspecting americans in

potential kill zones. >> your lungs hurt you can't breathe. the lungs can't function. eventually you die from asphyxiation. >> this was a scientist when he helped conduct the studies in conjunction with amaco oil. >> it actually penetrates the skin, destroying the issue, trying to get to the bones and react. it's a very very strong acid. >> reporter: this is really nasty. >> it's really nasty stuff. >> reporter: the doctor says the oil companies did not want the video made public and insisted on posting a disclaimer that the test could not be used to estimate what might happen in a real accident. but the doctor says it could. >> an accident could be this bad. an accident could look like this. >> reporter: there areal tern tichs to the acid but the industry says it would be too expensive to retro fit refine rips. that the use of the chemical is safe with proper prekaux

cautions. this is the president of the oil refineries trade group. >> the track record indicates that it's been a reliable product that gets the job done. >> reporter: but in the last two years alone, there have been 29 fires and explosions at refineries that use the chemical. including this one across the river from bismarck north dakota. >> refineries are as safe as we can make them to be. >> reporter: as safe as you can make them? >> but -- but we have to understand that safety is the number one issue. >> reporter: you would admit it's not a good safety record. >> i'm not saying it's not a good one. but as anything else it has to be -- safety is an evolving process. >> reporter: inn vest gators say the problem has become critical now because the oil refinery industry has failed to maintain aging equipment. after a chemical release in 2009 at this sunoco refinery in philadelphia near the city's sports stadiums, federal

investigators found the company has failed to correct deficiencies including an established history of tube leaks datding back to 1973. >> the priority seems to be on production and safety seems to take a backseat. >> reporter: the chairman of the government's chemical safety board says the industry mentality is to run the refineries until they break. >> so, basically, what we're talking about is you are running this to failure. >> reporter: in the case of citgo in corpus christi, the company says there was never any danger to the neighborhood due to the release. but officials say for the people that live nearby it was more a case of luck a shift of winds that prevented a catastrophe. can you really rely on luck? >> no. and if we relied on luck to protect anything then we should be up for criticism. but we don't rely on luck.

we rely on technology. >> reporter: how do you explain what happened in that case? >> i can -- >> reporter: how do you explain what happened in that case? >> we can't look in the rear view mirror. >> reporter: hardly reassuring words for the people of corpus christi who hear the sirens all day and all night, wondering if this is the day their luck will run out. just yesterday, the state of texas fined citgo $300,000 for safety violations at the refinery that led to that last accident. and know officials of the united steelworkers union, whose members work at many of those refineries, are calling on congress to ban the use of that chemical. cynthia? >> thank you brian. you can visit public integrity.org for a map of where those refineries are located. and for information on what to do in case of accident. up next the latest from libya, where libya. could moammar gadhafi be forced

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in just one week africa's longest reigning leader moammar gadhafi in office for 41 years, has seen his country gallop into turmoil. many observers now believe the question is not whether but when he'll be forced out of office. alexander marquardt reports from libya. >> reporter: tonight, a country divided. battles raging in western libya around gadhafi's stronghold, the capital of tripoli. protesters clashing in city after city. here in the east the opposition has taken full control. the mood was jubilant today, as protesters tooked armored vehicles on joyrides. as the resistance grows so

too, does gadhafi's erratic behavior. he took to the air waves today, phoning into libyan state television. even the anchor looked bewildered as gadhafi made a trademark statement, accusing the u.s. and al qaeda of foment fomenting the opposition. we met many of those protesters today, young and old, who are steadfast in their demands. >> we want him -- he killed our brothers. he killed our families. he arrested our people. >> reporter: despite the fury being directed at gadhafi for deck decades of oppression this is very much a celebration. these people feel like they have already won. they carried the red, black and green colors of the pre-gadhafi mon for a can i. the flag was everywhere carried through the crowds painted on faces. by car on foot or evacuated by

air, foreigners can't get out fast enough. hundreds of americans are still waiting to be evacuated. and for those still stranded in libya, hopes that the scenes of violence and chaos that have embodied this uprising will subside soon. for "nightline," i'm alex marquardt in eastern libya. >> our thanks for that. there are calls for massive protests in tripoli friday and no signs that gadhafi is giving in. all the makings of yet another deadly day. that is our report for tonight. from all of us at abc news, good night, america. >> dicky: up next on an all-new "jimmy kimmel live" -- owen wilson. >> talking about world war ii and stalingrad now? >> jimmy: and tonight, heidi makes her prediction for best picture. >> jimmy: kelly ripa.

do you get any say? >> hey i bet jimmy kimmel is available. >> dicky: and music from adele. >> jimmy: possums helping rhinos. it's a beautiful thing we