Thank you for placing the health and safety of Benicians above other concerns
By Larnie Fox, April 23, 2025
Benicia resident and artist, Larnie Fox
Dear Mayor, City Council members, and Chief Chadwick,
I am so proud of our City Council and staff!
In light of the recent announcement by Valero to “idle, restructure or cease refining operations”, it is more important than ever to have an Industrial Safety Ordinance in place. In spite of significant pressure and threats from Valero, and at great political cost, you placed the health and safety of Benicians above other concerns. Bravo! And thank you.
I think that Valero’s decision had little to do with our new ISO, but probably did affect the timing of their announcement.
It looks like what made them decide to change their operations next year was the regulatory atmosphere in California, the expense of fixing their hydrogen leak, and the $82M fine from the Air District. California is moving away from fossil fuels, and the company could see the writing on the wall.
What made them announce their decision now? My guess is it was a desire to blame you and your constituents’ measured effort to finally monitor and regulate the refinery’s ongoing release of toxins, and to stir up community resentments.
If they sell or restructure, the ISO will be important to monitor and regulate whatever activities occur on their site. If they shut it down, then we will need a plan in place to assure a “just transition” ~ aka a good clean-up of a very toxic site. With some long-term and visionary thinking, something good may yet come out of this.
The ISO will also be important to regulate the dozen or so other industries that work with dangerous chemicals in town, especially Valero’s other little refinery, the asphalt plant.
It took courage to lead our little town to stand up against big oil, but you did it, and we did it.
Valero Refining’s recent announcement to idle its petro-chemical plant next year is very encouraging news for our town and quite the opposite of the financial doomsday depicted by some fear-mongers.
As a lifetime 71 year resident, former elected public official, and local business owner, I have watched the refinery negatively impact us for over 55 years with extremely high levels of toxic air and water pollution, visual blight, and use of 50% of our city’s water resources at nominal rate.
These factors have exposed us all to severe health risks, caused a negative image of our city resulting in lower home values, and contributed directly to higher domestic water rates. This has been made even more alarmingly clear by the record-breaking $82 million fine recently imposed upon Valero for its air pollution violations in Benicia that also captured negative media-attention for our town.
The costs of having a 1960s-era oil refinery dominate our town should no longer be tolerated. We can embrace this rare chance to uplift an image of Benicia as an inviting historic waterfront community with a small town atmosphere, artist community, great schools and a welcoming downtown, rather than a pollution-filled refinery town whose far-fetched executives try to influence our local elections.
Our Benicia economy is stable and much more diverse than it was 60 years ago when the Arsenal closed. We are a commuter, residential community and no longer a company town dependent on one military installation, one company, or one refinery complex. We cannot repeat the doomsday thinking of the mid-1960s following the Arsenal closure, which led to the siting of the Humble Oil refinery (now Valero) and the nearby toxic waste dump to support it.
Short-term financial impacts related to a Valero closure have been exaggerated and can be mitigated. Since Valero does not produce sales tax for the city, the short-term revenue loss will result primarily from a Proposition 8 “temporary real property tax reduction”. This reduction will be less than 20% of factored base value since Valero has already received generous tax reductions through years-long litigation with the City and County Assessor, and because its land and improvements (office buildings, tank farms, pipelines, utility infrastructure, etc.) retain their inherent market value. Once alternative land uses occur, full property values will be restored. Just some examples of clean alternative uses are: housing, mixed use commercial, commercial retail, and clean energy. Additionally, the city will enjoy enhanced tax revenue from increased residential real property values as homes change hands. Benefitting both directly the city and its homeowners, local real estate professionals estimate a rapid 15-20% appreciation in values once the refinery- town stigma is eliminated.
Idling the refinery also provides many new financial opportunities beyond increased property tax revenues: The 50% recapture of our water resource supply can be marketed to growth-oriented municipalities at substantial annual profit; Tourism and related TOT (hotel tax) and sales tax revenue should increase as the town becomes a more attractive tourist destination; Development fee revenues will increase as new and alternative land uses occur in the industrial park; and importantly, there is the opportunity for a long-overdue port tax (common in many west-coast port cities) as our port facility will now gain additional capacity.
Lastly, regarding concerns over diminished contributions from Valero Refining to community non- profits, I believe that Benicia residents and businesses have been and will continue to support our local non-profit agencies, and this effort will be augmented by the recent creation of the Benicia Community Foundation and its already generous grant funding of local needs.
In summary, Valero’s announcement to idle refining operations bodes well for our town and creates a bright future, provided the mistakes of the 1960s following the Arsenal closure are not repeated by city leaders.
California is considering a bill to study the cost to taxpayers of climate-related disasters. Similar measures have already passed in New York and Vermont. (Strikernia/Adobe Stock)
The bill would direct the California Environmental Protection Agency to study how much climate change has cost the state between 1990 and 2024, and assess a one-time fee on oil and gas companies emitting more than 1 billion metric tons of emissions.
Maya Golden-Krasner, deputy director of the Climate Law Institute at the Center for Biological Diversity in Los Angeles, explained the goal of the bill.
“These are companies that make billions of dollars in profits per day,” Golden-Krasner pointed out. “This bill would take some of the burden off of taxpayers, and put it onto the people who caused the crisis.”
Right now, taxpayers end up footing much of the bill to clean up after natural disasters like mega-fires and floods, made worse by climate change. The money would go into a fund for climate-related programs, including projects to promote energy efficiency, make infrastructure more resilient, create urban green spaces and restore wetlands. The Western States Petroleum Association is among opponents of the bill, saying it will raise fuel costs for consumers and businesses.
The State Building and Construction Trades Council also opposes the bill, saying it will cost jobs.
Asm. Dawn Addis, D-Morro Bay, a sponsor of the bill, argued the climate projects will create jobs and a one-time fee should not affect gas prices.
“These companies lied to the public for decades,” Addis contended. “They knew that the pollution they were causing was creating climate damage, was leading to global warming. They hid that information, and it’s time for them to be part of the solution.”
The bill has already passed the Senate Environmental Quality Committee in March and goes before the Senate Judiciary Committee Tuesday.
KQED NEWS Radio, by Ericka Cruz Guevarra, Julie Small, Alan Montecillo, Apr 21, 2025
Last week, the oil giant Valero announced that it will “idle, restructure, or cease operations” at its Benicia refinery that employs more than 400 workers. KQED’s Julie Small tells us how officials are reacting, and why many view this decision as a response to state and local regulations.
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