Tag Archives: featured

Refinery Air Watch – new website shows missing info on Valero Benicia and across U.S.

New Website Highlights Gaps in Communities’ Access to Air Quality Data 

https://www.refineryairwatch.org/

By email, November 16, 2022

“Refineries are being forced to measure toxic chemicals they release. But they still don’t want the people next door to know what they’re breathing,” said Dr. Gwen Ottinger, Associate Professor at Drexel University in Philadelphia. “That’s where Refinery Air Watch comes in.”

Launched this week, RefineryAirWatch.org is a project of Ottinger’s lab, the Fair Tech Collective, graphic design firm SAYGRID, and a coalition of residents from refinery-adjacent communities in the San Francisco Bay area.

>> The site lets users download air quality data that industry and government-run websites make hard to access. It calls out refineries that take measurements but don’t make them available for download by the public. And it exposes widespread failures by the oil industry to support communities’ right to know. Out of 116 refineries in the United States, only 12 measure chemical concentrations continuously or collect data about more than one pollutant.

“In our community,” Benicia, California resident Constance Beutel said, “We went 15 years with undisclosed toxic emissions from the Valero refinery. There was no monitoring in the community so we didn’t know how dangerous our air had become.”

Click image for Benicia details at RefineryAirWatch.org.

Beutel’s group, the Good Neighbor Steering Committee, eventually established the Benicia Community Air Monitoring Program, which measures hazardous pollutants at 5-minute intervals and has publicly available data. Getting the program going was incredibly significant for the community, Beutel said: “Without actual real-time data, we in the public are unaware of the health risks and dangers we live with daily. Having RefineryAirWatch.org as a resource for us and other communities is a huge step forward for the public.”

Refinery Air Watch makes data available for download. It also uses standardized measurements of benzene, required by the Environmental Protection Agency to be taken at refineries across the U.S., to show which refineries have the largest impact on neighbors, which states have the worst polluters, and which corporations are responsible. The site’s designer, Andee Mazzocco of SAYGRID, notes “we collected data from a federally mandated data dump and transformed it into meaningful information citizens can easily access and rely on.”

“This is an environmental justice issue,” said Ottinger. “Six million people live within three miles of an oil refinery, and they’re more likely than other Americans to be people of color, low income, or both. We know that toxic emissions from refineries are one more manifestation of structural racism. But we can’t understand the full extent of the problem if we’re not insisting that refineries measure their pollution and make the data readily available for communities, scientists, and investigative journalists to analyze. Refinery Air Watch sends the message that regulatory agencies need to drastically improve their requirements for air monitoring and data access.”

Contact: 

Wednesday Benicia election results: the race is called for sure

All mail-in and election day ballots counted, bulk of provisional ballots counted, only about 300 countywide remain to be counted, only about 30 for Benicia, not enough to affect the outcome.

By Roger Straw, November 16, 2022

Wednesday’s count of provisional ballots at our Solano County Registrar of Voters did not affect the final outcome of Benicia’s City Council race. Frontrunners Terry Scott and Kari Birdseye maintained a solid lead, and are now assured victory.

Today’s Preliminary Results (click image to enlarge)
Click image to enlarge. Source: Solano County Registrar of Voters.
Yesterday, Nov 15 Today, Nov 16
Scott: 5,613 votes, 24.74% Scott: +29 votes = 5,642votes,
24.77%
Birdseye: 5,391 votes, 23.76% Birdseye: +23 votes = 5,414 votes, 23.77%
Largaespada: 5,243 votes, 23.11% Largaespada: +17 votes = 5,260 votes, 23.09%
Strawbridge: 4,793 votes, 21.13% Strawbridge: +17 votes = 4,810 votes, 21.11%
Innes: 1,645 votes, 7.25% Innes: +10 votes = 1,655 votes,
7.26%

Scott’s lead over Birdseye increased today by 6 from 222 to 228. Birdseye’s lead over Largaespada increased by 6 from 148 to 154.

Votes outstanding (click image to enlarge)
Click image to enlarge. Source: Solano County Registrar of Voters.

ALL mail-in ballots have now been counted. Another 322 or so provisional ballots – countywide – must be counted. Benicia is typically about 10% of total Solano votes, so there are perhaps 30 or so provisional ballots for Benicia, clearly not enough to change any of the final results. This election race is over for sure!

The Registrar of Voters expects to certify the final result by November 30.


Previous updates on the BenIndy:

SHORT NOTICE! Benicia’s “North Study Area” project (Seeno property)

If you possibly can, be at the meeting tonight:
Community Open House @ Northgate Church
2201 Lake Herman Road
TONIGHT! November 16, 2022 at 7:00 p.m.

With apologies for this terribly short notice (many of us have been really busy with elections) – I call your attention to an important meeting TONIGHT.

Click to go to 2008 citizen study, archived at rogerstraw.com

The City is sponsoring a community Open House to inform the public and get input from us on planning for the future of the Seeno property.  Some of you Benicia Resisters recall the several struggles in recent years to stop the Seeno family from its disastrous development plans. I have heard that City officials are in communication with the Seenos, and that one or more senior Benicia officials believe that development is “inevitable.”

Please study up on this project –

  1. See the City’s current background docs at https://www.ci.benicia.ca.us/northstudyarea
  2. AND please review our creative and thorough 2008 citizen study, Green Gateway Business Community, archived at http://www.rogerstraw.com/ggg/ .

AND MOST IMPORTANTLY, if you possibly can, be at the meeting tonight:

Community Open House @ Northgate Church
2201 Lake Herman Road
TONIGHT! November 16, 2022 at 7:00 p.m.

MORE BACKGROUND: Here’s current information from the City of Benicia website, https://www.ci.benicia.ca.us/northstudyarea:

North Study Area

The North Study Area visioning project aims to solicit public input on potential future land use options for the North Study Area property. Community input, together with an economic analysis and evaluation of the property conditions, will be used to develop several mixed-use concepts for further public review. Once completed, the landowner may determine whether to move forward with initiating land use applications which must include a “Master Plan” (i.e., Specific Plan) as required by the Benicia General Plan and Zoning Ordinance.

The study area is a 527-acre undeveloped property in the northeast corner of the city. The property is within the City’s urban growth boundary and fronts on Lake Herman Road and East Second Street.  Although a number of site development proposals have been considered over the years, most recently in 2016, none have come to fruition. The property is currently zoned Limited Industrial (IL) and General Commercial (CG).

Visioning Process

The City wants to partner with the community to envision the future of this area, which is the last remaining large tract of privately-owned undeveloped land within Benicia.

There will be a variety of opportunities to learn more about this effort and to provide feedback over the coming year. The City will solicit public input through a series of community meetings, public events, and on-line engagement opportunities. To receive the latest updates, you can sign up for project email notifications here.  The City expects to complete the visioning process by late 2023.

The North Study Area Community-Led Visioning Process is divided into the following primary tasks:

  • Existing Conditions Review: Review of background materials and existing conditions information relevant to the visioning process.
  • Economic Analysis: Analysis of real estate market conditions, financial feasibility of land use alternatives, and net annual fiscal impacts of land use alternatives.
  • Issues and Options: Evaluation of key issues and options associated with development options.
  • Mixed-use Concepts: Consideration of alternative land use concepts for the property.
  • Summary Report: Summary of public input received and areas of consensus that emerged from the visioning process.

Advisory Group

The City has formed an advisory group for the North Study Area project to help distribute information about the project, provide feedback on project materials, and to bring together diverse community perspectives. The advisory group consists of one representative selected by each of the following City committee/commissions and community organizations.  Meetings are open to the public.

City Committees/Commissions:

  • City Council Subcommittee for the North Study Area (2 members)
  • Economic Development Board
  • Community Sustainability Commission
  • Committee United for Racial Equity
  • Planning Commission

Community Organizations:

  • Benicia Chamber of Commerce
  • Benicia Industrial Park Association
  • Matthew Turner Elementary Parent Teacher Group
  • Sustainable Solano
  • Benicia Unified School District
  • Housing First Solano

Project Documents

To be added as materials become available.

Advisory Group Meeting 1 (11/9/2022)

Agenda

Memorandum

Presentation

Existing Conditions Maps

Priorities

Background Documents

Adopted City Plans and Policies

Studies and Reports

Moving Solano Forward II – Final Report (2017)

Today’s Benicia election results: Vote margins don’t change much

Mail-in ballots all but complete, counting of provisional ballots began today.

By Roger Straw, November 15, 2022

As expected, Tuesday’s count of additional mail-in ballots at our Solano County Registrar of Voters did not affect the likely final outcome of Benicia’s City Council race. Frontrunners Terry Scott and Kari Birdseye maintained a solid lead.

Today’s Preliminary Results
Click image to enlarge. Source: Solano County Registrar of Voters.
  • Scott has 5,613 votes, 24.74%
  • Birdseye has 5,391 votes, 23.76%
  • Largaespada has 5,243 votes, 23.11%
  • Strawbridge has 4,793 votes, 21.13%
  • Innes has 1,645 votes, 7.25%
By the numbers – note day-by-day vote margins at right…
Click image to enlarge. Source: BenIndy, numbers from Solano County Registrar of Voters.

Scott’s lead over Birdseye decreased today by one from 223 to 222. Birdseye’s lead over Largaespada increased from 142 to 148.

Votes outstanding…
Click image to enlarge. Source: Solano County Registrar of Voters.

Unless there are any surprises, ALL mail-in ballots have now been counted. Another 1,012 or so provisional ballots – countywide – must be counted. Benicia is typically about 10% of total Solano votes, so there are perhaps 100 more provisional ballots for Benicia. The Registrar of Voters expects to certify the final result by November 30.


Previous updates on the BenIndy: