Apr 23, 2007 9:54 pm US/Pacific
Chevron Richmond Refinery Flaring Draws Attention
by Anna Werner
RICHMOND (CBS 5 / BCN) ―
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Emissions can be seen at Chevron's Richmond refinery.
AP
A flare-up at Chevron's Richmond refinery on Monday may have released potentially toxic chemicals into the air just days after regulators questioned whether the oil company is doing enough to protect the environment in the Bay Area.
Chevron officials said the Richmond plant on Monday morning had to shut down a compressor that recovers and recycles chemical gases, so they temporarily flared - or burned - causing a release into the air. The company said it was performing maintenance on the compressor equipment at the time of the incident.
Flaring at refineries is used to quickly burn off gasses, which build up during the refining process, which could otherwise cause an explosion or be released straight into the environment. According to air district regulations, flaring is only intended to be used in emergency situations.
The Oakland-based group Communities for a Better Environment said their analysis shows that Chevron's Richmond refinery and ConocoPhillips' Rodeo refinery are each emitting 30 to 50 times more pollution than the Shell refinery in Martinez -- which utilizes two backup compressors.
"It turns out that Chevron's not doing what Shell's doing to prevent flaring," said CBE senior scientist Greg Karras. "Chevron's underbuilt their capacity to handle the gases... and they're refining cheaper crude in ways that are dirtier and create more toxic gases to handle in the first place."
The Bay Area Air Quality Management District adopted a rule in 2005 aimed at reducing flaring at the five Bay Area refineries. In accordance the rule, each refinery had to develop a plan to reduce flaring. Those plans are now up for public review.
Chevron's plans came under fire from CBE at a governmental hearing last week. ConocoPhillips' flare minimization plan also does not adequately address the problem of excessive flare gas emissions, according to CBE which said it planned to challenge that refinery's plan during a public hearing in Crockett Monday night.
"It's a very, very dirty refinery and we're challenging them to clean up," Karras said, noting that only Chevron had a worse record.
In addition to multiple backup compressors, CBE wants refineries to adopt enforceable work procedures that tell refinery personnel to slow down the refining process whenever necessary to prevent gasses from building up beyond the compressor's capacity. Karras said Shell has demonstrated the effectiveness of such procedures.
Since January 2004, the five Bay Area refineries combined have emitted a total of more than 3 million pounds of pollutants. A single flare can release as much as 10,000 to 100,000 pounds of pollutants into the air, according to the environmental group's analysis.
(© CBS Broadcasting Inc. All Rights Reserved. This material may not be published, broadcast, rewritten or redistributed. Bay City News contributed to this report.)
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