Chevron Richmond refinery issues visible flares, smoke
County health officials monitoring; no shelter in place order issued
RICHMOND >> A process upset unit at the Chevron refinery sent flames, smoke and foul odors into rain-soaked West Contra Costa County skies on Sunday.
A Richmond city public safety alert sent at 9:06 a.m. said excess flaring began at the refinery at 8:25 a.m. and was ongoing.
In a social media post at 3:45 p.m., Contra Costa County Supervisor John Gioia described the flaring as “both constant and intermittent,” and added that Contra Costa Health Services were monitoring the incident and residents who see or smell related odors should call 1-800334-ODOR to register a complaint.
Gioia released a statement criticizing the oil giant on Monday: “Chevron has failed the community by its recent flaring due to problems at its cogeneration plant. While (Contra Costa Health Services) did not order a shelter-in-place, this flaring incident impacted our communities through its odors and visibility.”
In a statement Sunday, Chevron spokesman Brian Hubinger said the refinery was experiencing intermittent flaring due to a process unit upset.
“Our workforce is working to minimize and stop the flaring. A Community Warning System Level 1 — one of the lowest on the scale — was issued earlier to keep residents informed,” Hubinger said in part.
According to this news organization’s reporting, the refinery saw multiple flaring reports within the last year, including this May and last August and
November. In July, the Bay Area Air Quality Management District’s board voted to require Chevron Richmond Refinery and a separate refinery in Martinez to use “wet gas scrubbers” to clean up hazardous particulate matter.
Anyone with questions may call the refinery’s general number at 510-2422000, ask about specific noises or odors at 510-2422127, visit the refinery’s airmonitoring site at https:// www.richmondairmonitoring.org or e-mail richmondrefineryinfo@chevron.com.