City has dealt with numerous venues, including Valero Refinery, which has been the site of numerous air pollution incidents

Benicia citizens are ready to clear the air regarding an Industrial Safety Ordinance.

Tuesday’s Benicia City Council meeting is set to include a segment on the possible adoption of the ordinance. The Benicia Industrial Safety and Health Ordinance — a citizens group formed in 2023 with 250 supporters — is looking for a stronger ordinance to deal with venues like Valero Refinery, the site of numerous air pollution incidents.

“This is a critical meeting that will affect the future of our air quality for years to come,” said Terry Mollica, a member of the group Benicia Industrial Safety and Health Ordinance. “We need everyone in Benicia who cares about the air we breathe to show up at the city council to show support for stronger protections.”

Benicia is the only Bay Area refinery town to not yet have an Industrial Safety Ordinance. Community activists — including health and environmental advocates — have spent years calling for tighter regulations to protect citizens from dangerous industrial emissions impacting air quality and the health of residents.

The Valero Refinery has been the site of a series of air pollution incidents, including the recent revelation that a hydrogen vent at the refinery had been leaking 2.7 tons of toxics into the air for 15 years. That discovery resulted in an historic $84 million fine imposed by the Bay Area Air Quality Management District in 2024.

Inspectors reported that Valero management had known about the leaks for years, but failed to report them or take steps to mitigate the leak. The fine reportedly was the largest penalty ever assessed by the district.

“[The Benicia Industrial Health and Safety Ordinance group] was formed by a group of concerned citizens to promote the adoption of an ISO to help the city regulate such emissions and reduce the risk of incidents,” Mollica said. “This most recent discovery and the secrecy surrounding the years-long leaks point out how important it is for Benicia to have a strong Industrial Safety Ordinance.”

Valero was one of four other refineries that in 2023 didn’t meet requirements as defined by BAAQMD and Rule 12-15.

Rule 12-15 — passed in 2016 — requires refineries to monitor and report fugitive gasses from their operating equipment, such as valves, compressors, and storage tanks. These emissions impact the health of the surrounding communities — the toxic gases released include noxious chemicals like the cancer-causing benzene.

After a trip to the refinery in 2023, Benicia Community Air Monitoring Program Board Member Kathy Kerridge said she was not surprised at the result. After all, it wasn’t the first time it had to pay up for emitting smoke or chemicals into the air. In April 2017, the Bay Area Air Quality Management District fined Valero $340,000 for 28 violations committed in 2014. A month later, they were hit with four additional violations — one for causing a public nuisance and three for releasing excessive smoke.

“Fines are trivial to them,” Kerridge said. “It’s like they are having a direct slap to the face with the community. The main problem is that the air monitoring gives us the sense of false security.”

Newly-elected council members Terry Scott and Kari Birdseye sponsored the adoption of an ordinance late in 2023. The council then voted unanimously to have staff study the issue and make a recommendation. Mayor Steve Young appointed Scott, Birdseye, Fire Chief Josh Chadwick and city staff to a subcommittee to draft an ordinance and to bring it before the city council.

Since then, the subcommittee held public meetings to gain feedback from citizens and industrial groups including Valero, analyzed the data and drafted an ordinance.

Mollica also said that during those months, there have been ongoing negotiations between the city and Valero with the refinery displaying strong resistance.

In June 2019,  execution of the Benicia–Valero Cooperation Agreement addressed concerns raised by the council and the community regarding industrial safety with the Valero facility. While an agreement with the parties largely achieved its intended goals, several areas for improvement have been identified over the past five years with three significant concerns. Those concerns are:

• Term: The agreement includes an expiration date, requiring the City to renegotiate an extension or a new agreement each time it expires.
• Termination: The agreement contains a termination clause, allowing a party to potentially terminate the agreement at any time.
• Enforcement: The agreement lacks clear enforcement provisions and does not specify consequences for non-compliance.

Since then more outreach was requested, including engaging with key stakeholders and subject matter experts. To achieve this, a subcommittee implemented a comprehensive public engagement strategy and created the website www.EngageBenicia.com for the public to share their thoughts, questions, and feedback. The site went live in March.

That same month, a public feedback survey was introduced on the website to gather quantitative data on public opinion regarding industrial safety in Benicia. Between March 25 and May 19, feedback was collected from 178 participants, according to a Benicia City Staff report.

The ordinance is now on its third draft, which was constructed last month. This newest draft incorporated significant revisions from the prior versions, with the most notable being a detailed legal analysis determining that various aspects of the previous versions included requirements that state law makes the responsibility of the the Solano County Certified Unified Program Agency.

The staff report also outlines industrial facilities subject to regulation under the ordinance. It specifies that the ordinance applies to any High Hazard Facility operating within the City of Benicia, as defined in Section 8.55.070. A “High-Hazard Facility” is classified as a “Group H” occupancy under the California Fire Code and encompasses buildings, structures, or portions thereof used for manufacturing, processing, generating, or storing materials that pose physical or health hazards in quantities exceeding the limits permitted in the California Fire Code.

While the current agreement is only between Benicia and Valero, the draft ordinance will regulate numerous other industrial facilities. Although the list of Group H high-hazard facilities in Benicia is not static, in 2023 it did list 13 businesses that were defined as Group H occupancies. Those are:

• Valero Refinery (3400 E 2nd St)
• Kaneka (6162 Egret Ct)
• Ralph Pugh (3931 Oregon St)
• Interstate Batteries (535 Getty Ct)
• Amports (2050 Park Rd)
• Cork Supply (531 Stone Rd)
• Red Line Synthetic Oil (6100 Egret Ct)
• Auto Chlor (515 Stone Rd)
• Benicia Water Treatment Plant (100 Water Way)
• Kwik Bond Polymers (923 Teal Dr)
• Flavor Insights (4795 E Industrial Way)
• Delta Tech Services (397 W Channel Rd)
• Linde Inc (331 E Channel Rd)

The 2023 report also listed two other sites that are no longer operating in the city — Red Line Synthetic Oil and Auto Chlor.

The Tuesday meeting will begin at 6 p.m. at 250 East L Street in Benicia. It can be viewed via Zoom at us02web.zoom.us/j/88508047557?pwd=cHRsZlBrYlphU3pkODcycytmcFR2UT09. The phone number is 1 (669) 900-9128, while the Meeting ID is 885 0804 7557 and the password is 449303.