In the News
3/2022 - Air District investigation shows Valero Benicia Refinery releases toxic chemicals for years
In an unusual step, the Bay Area Air Quality Management District held a community meeting for Benicia to discuss the upcoming Air Board meeting (March 15, 2022) regarding Valero’s nearly 18 year violation of District emissions standards.
To say the least, Benicia Community members, City Staff and some electeds were shocked to learn of the long unreported emissions exceedance as well as the Air District’s withholding of this information for over three years. To its credit, the Air District was present in full force to present their findings and to hear every question and concern voiced by those in attendance.
The Air District will be advising/suggesting that the Air Board grant that penalty fines assigned to Valero be given to the City of Benicia.
The tone of the community’s response was mostly of frustration over years of voicing concern and not being kept in the loop as to major issues and in not rectifying on-going serious problems.
11/2021 - Valero to pay $191K for air pollution at Benicia refinery
Valero Energy has agreed to pay $191,500 for 14 alleged air quality violations at its Benicia refinery, as part of its latest settlement with the Bay Area Air Quality Management District.
The air district announced the settlement Wednesday, saying the alleged violations in 2017 included excessive visible emissions and for exceeding nitrogen oxide and carbon monoxide limits.
That’s about what Valero pays in fines for that plant annually. In 2018, it paid $266,000 for 22 alleged air quality violations from 2016.
The other violations alleged in the settlement released Wednesday include violations for valve leaks, oil on a tank roof and one for failure to conduct daily inspections.
The settlement, which specifies that Valero does not admit to wrongdoing, does not include 17 notices of violations the air district sent to Valero for an incident in May 2017 when a power outage sent toxic chemicals into the air. Air district spokesperson Ralph Borrmann said that those violations are still pending.
https://www.vallejosun.com/valero-to-pay-191k-for-air-pollution-at-benicia-refinery/
05/2019 - Valero Says It Faces $342,000 in Penalties Over Benicia Refinery Pollution Incident
Valero says it's facing $342,000 or more in fines from county and regional agencies after a major air pollution incident earlier this year at its Benicia refinery.
In a filing last week with the federal Securities and Exchange Commission, the company says it expects to face $242,840 in proposed penalties from the Solano County Department of Resource Management and at least another $100,000 in fines to settle a dozen notices of violation from the Bay Area Air Quality Management District.
The reported penalty amount is about 1/100th of 1% of the San Antonio, Texas-based company's reported adjusted net profit for 2018 — $3.2 billion.
05/2017 - Benicia refinery smoke leads to industrial park evacuation and shelter in place at two schools
Thick black smoke belched from flares at the Valero oil refinery for hours Friday after a power outage, triggering the evacuation of an industrial park, a shelter-in-place order at two elementary schools, and temporary detours on a freeway.
The smoke plumes were visible for miles away in several counties after a 6:45 a.m. power outage disrupted refinery production and spurred Valero to burn partially refined fuel in flares to prevent unsafe pressure buildups in lines and vessels.
Air samples taken early Friday morning detected concentrations of hydrogen sulfide and sulfur dioxide exceeding levels permitted by the federal Environmental Agency, said Dr. Michael Stacey, the acting Solano County health officer. But those concentrations later dissipated to levels for which no adverse health effects would be expected, Stacey said.
The smoke jangled nerves and brought several teams of air quality, fire and toxic chemical regulators to check air quality.
By late Friday afternoon, however, a city spokesman said he had heard of only two people calling in to report symptoms of chest or nose irritation. Neither was planning to go to a hospital or doctor, said the spokesman, Mario Guiliani.
10/2016 - Valero refinery faces $197,500 fine for fouling Suisun Bay
State water pollution regulators propose to fine the Valero oil refinery $197,500 for discharging more than a million gallons of partially treated plant wastewater into Suisun Bay and the Carquinez Strait for about nine hours on Jan. 18.
Excessive volumes of total suspended solids and selenium, an element toxic to birds and wildlife, flowed into the Bay after a plant employee disrupted industrial wastewater treatment by allowing a feed of water treatment chemicals to remain closed after a routine check, the San Francisco Regional Water Quality Control Board said a civil complaint.
An operator on the next shift discovered and corrected the error. By then, however, about 1.17 million gallons of inadequately treated industrial wastewater had been flushed into the Bay, a nursery and migratory grounds for fish, regulators said.
“The Valero refinery discharged partially treated wastewater to Suisun Bay for the entire day,” in violation of its federal permit limits, state board engineers wrote in the complaint made public on Oct. 13.
https://www.eastbaytimes.com/2016/10/17/benicia-valero-refinery-faces-197500-for-fouling-suisun-bay/