Valero contracted with Oakland-based real estate development firm Signature Development Group to create plans for the 900 acres it owns, including its now-idled refinery and surrounding land. Signature submitted preliminary plans to the City of Benicia on Friday. Read Signature’s overview here.
Reposted with permission, The Benicia Bridge Excellent reporting from Benicia’s newest award-winning journalism duo, Monica Vaughan and Laura López González. – Roger Straw Learn more and subscribe to the newsletter here.
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 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.
Reposted with permission, The Benicia Bridge Excellent reporting from Benicia’s newest award-winning journalism duo, Monica Vaughan and Laura López González. – Roger Straw Learn more and subscribe to the newsletter here.
Swings will be installed at the Playground of Dreams on First Street in Benicia within the next six weeks. The historic wooden play structure at the downtown park requires major restoration work that won’t likely begin until 2030.
Benicia’s Playground of Dreams was built in 1992. Famed playground architect Robert S. Leathers used local schoolchildren’s drawings as inspiration, which gave rise to the structure’s iconic dragon slide. Credit: Benicia Friends of the Playground
Swings are expected to return to downtown’s Playground of Dreams in the next six weeks. The new, donated equipment will be the first swings at the City Park in five years, said Dan Smith of the local nonprofit Benicia Friends of the Playground. Smith was speaking at Tuesday’s City Hall meeting.
… [Continued on The Benicia Bridge…]
Reposted from The Benicia Bridge Excellent reporting from Benicia’s newest award-winning journalism duo, Monica Vaughan and Laura López González. – Roger Straw Learn more and subscribe to the newsletter here.
March 26 refinery “material release” remains under investigation…
A black plume erupted from a flare tower at the Valero Benicia Refinery March 26, prompting a voluntary shelter-in-place order from the city. Photo taken in the Hillcrest neighborhood by Benicia resident and small business owner, Jamie Jang.
The Benicia Bridge, By Laura López González & Monica Vaughan, April 18, 2026
Valero delayed reporting the March 26 flare-tower “material release,” which remains under investigation by several agencies. The plant may not have reported the flaring to state authorities at all, had it not been for Solano County officials’ urging.
A distinctive black plume from one of Valero’s three flare stacks made local headlines in March. Unsure of what was being spilled into the air, Benicia Fire Chief Josh Chadwick issued a voluntary shelter-in-place warning for the city, as previously reported by The Benicia Bridge. NBC News reported that about two dozen Valero workers were sent to the hospital with chemical burns caused by cleaning chemicals involved in the incident. Company officials denied that happened.
Reposted with permission, The Benicia Bridge Excellent reporting from Benicia’s newest award-winning journalism duo, Monica Vaughan and Laura López González. – Roger Straw Learn more and subscribe to the newsletter here.
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