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RICHMOND (BCN) ― The Richmond City Council was scheduled to hold a hearing Tuesday on appeals filed by Chevron and the Richmond Alliance for Environmental Justice to the planning commission's conditional approval of the refinery's Energy and Hydrogen Renewal Project.

In the proposed project, which proponents refer to as a plant upgrade and opponents claim is an expansion, the refinery would replace its 1930s power plant with a new power plant that would allow the refinery to become independent from the Pacific Gas and Electric Co. power grid. It has also proposed to replace several other units, including its 1960s gasoline reformer.

The upgrades would allow the refinery to process a wider range of crude oil.

Opponents of the project have argued that if it is approved, the project will enable the refinery to process heavier, dirtier crude oil, which will result in increased air pollution for local communities.

Chevron has stated repeatedly that "overall emissions" will not increase as a result of the new project.

On June 19 the Richmond Planning Commission approved the environmental impact report for the project, but required a series of conditions.

Chevron filed an appeal to one of those conditions - one that requires the refinery to reduce at least 449,000 metric tons of greenhouse gas emissions on site per year.

In its appeal, Chevron claimed that there is "no scientific basis or substantial evidence... to justify requiring GHG reductions in this amount, or any other amount, locally on Chevron property, in order to mitigate alleged global-scale climate change impacts from GHG emissions," according to city documents.

However, reducing greenhouse gas emissions would force the refinery to reduce emissions of other harmful air pollutants and improve the overall air quality in surrounding communities, according to the City Council agenda report.

In its appeal, Communities for a Better Environment, along with more than a dozen environmental justice organizations that make up the Richmond Alliance for Environmental Justice, claims that the environmental impact report is still incorrect because it doesn't disclose the refinery's alleged plans to process heavier, dirtier crude oil.

According to the group, processing dirtier crude oil could result in five to 50 times more air pollution.

Just in time for the hearings, two labor unions, Laborers' Union Local 324 and Carpenters Union Local 152, announced their support of Chevron's project, saying it will help improve the refinery, reduce overall emissions and create more than 1,200 construction jobs.

In a counter attack, environmental justice groups released a new poll that says the majority of Richmond voters want the City Council to impose caps on the types of crude oil the refinery would be permitted to process.

The poll, commissioned by the Asian Pacific Environmental Network, a member of the Richmond Alliance for Environmental Justice, found that 57 percent of voters were in favor of caps on types of crude oil, and 73 percent said they wanted the City Council to delay approval of the project until the environmental impacts of the new refining capabilities can be fully reviewed.

In anticipation of large crowds, the hearing will be held at 7 p.m. at Kennedy High School, located at 4300 Cutting Blvd. in Richmond.

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