April 14, 2019
The Benicia Independent learned yesterday that Valero Benicia Refinery will remain in “partial shutdown” until early or mid-May.
This news raises two concerns:
- The shutdown came after the refinery experienced a massive release of black smoke on March 11 containing particles of petroleum coke and other toxic chemicals including benzene. On March 24, a repeat of the black smoke releases took place, a shelter in place was issued by the health department, and the refinery went into a partial shutdown. One might ask, “What kind of malfunction could result in a two-month shutdown? How serious of an incident was this?”
- The partial shutdown has already raised gas prices in California. How will another month offline affect consumers’ gas prices?
Roger Straw
The Benicia Independent