Refinery leaving will hurt Bay Area town’s economy, but there will be a big benefit

Letters, San Francisco Chronicle, by Richard Fleming, M.D., Benicia resident and author, Older But Wiser. June 3, 2025

Regarding “This Bay Area town grew into a prosperous suburb — but is now facing fiscal crisis” (Bay Area, SFChronicle.com, June 1): A key point was left out of the story — the Valero refinery’s adverse impact on the health of Benicia residents.

Despite being an otherwise healthy city, our rates of many cancers are much higher than Solano County and the rest of the state.

Benicia’s rate of lung cancer is between 14.5%-21.8% higher than the county’s and about 44% higher than the California rate. Our prostate cancer rates are 32.8% higher than the county’s and 70% higher than the state’s. For breast cancer, we have a 36% higher rate than our county and a 94% higher rate than our state. This data comes from Solano County and state public health sources.

While it cannot be definitively concluded that these higher cancer rates are due to refinery emissions, they are similar to the higher rates near refineries elsewhere that are well-documented in medical studies.

Yes, it will be economically challenging to weather Valero’s exit. But there is little doubt that when this happens, our community’s risk of cancer will drop. Many Benicia residents are looking forward to being able to breathe healthier air and are willing to work with our city government to move into a post-refinery future.

Dr. Richard Fleming, Benicia