Tag Archives: hazardous emissions

Air pollution, Bay Area Air District, Fenceline monitoring, Hazardous emissions, Valero Benicia Refinery

Valero fined another $3.25 million for 118 air quality violations at Benicia refinery

Air District will require Valero to expand fenceline monitoring program after “significant incidents” that polluted surrounded community, including a gasoil release in Dec. 2021

The Valero refinery, seen in this archival photo, has been idled but new fenceline monitors are slated to be installed in surrounding areas. (Adobe)

The Benicia Bridge, By Monica Vaughan, April  28, 2026

Valero Refining Company has agreed to pay an additional $3,250,000 penalty for air quality violations related to its now-idled Benicia refinery in a new settlement with the Bay Area Air District announced Tuesday.  

The settlement resolves 118 notices issued by the air pollution regulator for violations that occurred between 2019 and 2023, according to Kristine Roselius, a spokesperson for the Air District. In addition to the penalty, Valero will be required to expand its fenceline air quality monitoring program, and provide public access to and reporting of the monitoring data.

The pollution emitted during that period includes particulate matter, butane and sulfur-related pollutants, Roselius told The Benicia Bridge.  […continued on The Benicia Bridge (including Q&A with spokesperson for the the Air District)…]

Reposted with permission, The Benicia Bridge
Excellent reporting from Benicia’s newest award-winning journalism duo, Monica Vaughan and Laura López González. – Roger Straw
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Big Oil, Negative campaigning, Toxic pollutants, Valero PAC

Clean Politics and Valero – video from 2019 and 2022

Valero spokesperson refused to promise fair campaigns, Air District exposes Valero’s multi-year toxic emissions

At 2019 public presentation by Valero in Benicia, Paul Adler, Valero Benicia’s Director of Government Affairs and Community Relations, declined to respond to a question regarding the refinery’s interfering in local Benicia elections.

Benicia resident Andrés Soto was in the audience, and posed a question during Q&A. Recalling Valero’s malicious attacks in Benicia’s 2018 election, Mr. Soto posed a question: “You say you want to be a ‘good neighbor.’ Will you pledge not to conduct a similar negative campaign in the local elections in 2020, and let Benicians make their own decisions?” Mr. Adler’s refused to make the pledge.

The Valero funded PAC went on to mount a massive effort to buy the Mayor’s seat in 2020 – including misleading and demeaning ads, and has once again in 2022 spent large sums on phone polling, mailers and social media.

This video shifts midway to a March, 2022 Benicia City Council presentation by the Bay Area Air Quality Management District. At that meeting, air quality experts informed the city leaders and residents of serious huge multi-year toxic emissions violations heretofore unreported by the Valero Refinery.

See also, “City Leaders in Benicia not happy to learn recently that the Valero was emitting excessive amounts of hazardous chemicals for over a decade.“

 

Benicia elections, Kari Birdseye, Valero, Valero PAC

KQED: In Benicia’s City Council Race, the Valero Refinery is on People’s Minds

Now, Benicia doesn’t get a ton of media attention…

Smokestacks and machinery are visible at Valero’s Benicia Refinery, in February 2022. The Bay area plant processes crude oil. (Smith Collection/Gado/Getty Images)

KQED News, by Alan Montecillo and Maria Esquinca, Oct 19, 2022

The politics of fossil fuels in Benicia’s City Council race

Benicia is home to an oil refinery operated by Valero, which employs hundreds of people and contributes tax revenue totaling an estimated 20% of the city’s general budget.

The company has also played a very active role in local elections. Valero’s political action committee spent hundreds of thousands of dollars in 2018 and 2020.

Now, with this year’s city council race underway — and residents frustrated over recent controversies at the refinery — Valero’s role in Benicia looms large once again.

Guest: Scott Morris, reporter for the Vallejo Sun

 

Air pollution, Air quality violations, Bay Area Air Quality Management District (BAAQMD), Benzene emissions, Hazardous emissions, Keeping Watch on Earth News, Local Regulation, Valero Benicia Refinery

Listen: Why were toxic releases kept secret at a Bay Area refinery?

Valero in Benicia released chemicals at levels way above the legal limit for years — and regulators knew

San Francisco Chronicle Fifth & Mission Podcast, March 25, 2022 – 12-minute interview with SFChron reporter Julie Johnson.

Residents of communities like Richmond, Martinez and Benicia are angry after finding out that a hydrogen stack at the Valero refinery in Benicia was releasing chemicals at levels hundreds of times higher than the legal limit for years.

Government regulators knew — but had kept it a secret since 2019.

Many residents of communities like Richmond, Martinez and Benicia have long distrusted the region’s oil refineries. They may appreciate the jobs, and they may use the gas, but they feel like basic steps haven’t been taken to filter and monitor chemicals that pollute their air.

On this episode of the Fifth & Mission podcast, Chronicle reporter Julie Johnson joins host Demian Bulwa to break down the story and talk about whether these revelations validate those fears.

Photo above: The Valero refinery in Benicia in 2019.