On April 8 the Air District invited us to help decide how those millions of dollars will be spent!
Smoke from the Valero Benicia refinery during a 2017 incident. | Bay Area Air Quality Management District.
For years, Benicians have been calling for the Bay Area Air District to direct some of the millions in violation money collected from refineries to the communities where the refineries are located – the communities that suffer from the harm caused by the violations.
Finally, this year, the Air District is getting serious about sharing those funds. And here in Benicia, the dollars are huge!
Last October, the Air District (and CARB) fined Valero Refining Co. $82 million for Benicia air quality violations! In an email yesterday, Benicia Mayor Steve Young sent out an alert with the subject line, “Help decide how to spend $64 million from the Valero settlement in Benicia.”
Young was referring to an invitation issued by the Air District to fill out a survey and attend an ONLINE WORKSHOP TODAY AT 5PM. Here is the content of the invitation as it appears in the Benicia City Manager’s latest newsletter:
Help Shape How Millions in Community Funds Are Spent – Take the Survey or Join the Workshop!
The Bay Area Air District has established a new Community Investments Office to help direct funding from enforcement actions into projects that benefit communities most impacted by air pollution across the Bay Area. Your voice is critical in shaping how these funds will be distributed.
We’re reaching out to ask for your input in two ways:
Take a brief survey to share your thoughts on community priorities, funding needs, and more: Take the Survey
Join us for a virtual community workshop on Tuesday, April 8, 2025, from 5:00– 6:00 PM to learn more and walk through the survey together.
Months after Bay Area regulators handed a record-setting fine for pollution violations to oil giant Valero Refining Co.’s Benicia facility, city leaders voted to establish stronger oversight over refinery emissions.
The Benicia City Council unanimously passed regulations Tuesday creating a new air quality monitoring program and requiring the refinery and other entities handling hazardous materials to promptly report emissions.
Vice Mayor Trevor Macenski said they hope to “foster a resilient business environment within Benicia while ensuring that our citizens don’t all need inhalers.”
The city’s plan is modeled after a similar ordinance in Contra Costa County, which for more than two decades has empowered county health officials to investigate potential emissions problems at three oil refineries, including Chevron, across the Carquinez Strait.
The Solano County city has lacked similar oversight power for Valero. Benicia leaders have been frustrated in recent years by revelations of emissions problems at Valero and a lack of notification from agencies charged with pollution oversight. The Bay Area Air Quality Management District waited three years to inform Benicia residents after agency staff discovered Valero was spewing illegal amounts of cancer-causing gases and chemicals into the air and had done so for 16 years.
Council Member Kari Birdseye, who campaigned on more refinery oversight when she was elected in 2022, said in an interview that the air district’s $82 million fine was a “wake-up call” for Benicia.
“Our community wants to know exactly what’s going wrong and how we can ensure those types of things don’t happen again,” Birdseye said.
The ordinance, which takes effect 120 days after the vote, allows the city to investigate pollution issues when other agencies, such as the Bay Area air quality district, state or federal agencies, aren’t conducting investigations. It also requires facilities such as the refinery to report potentially hazardous releases to the city.
The vote was unanimous despite strong opposition from some business representatives and Valero executives, who previously called the ordinance “governmental overreach.”
Valero refinery officials did not immediately respond to a request for comment this week.
The ordinance would also pertain to a dozen other businesses in the city, including the city’s water and wastewater treatment plants, paint company Sherwin-Williams, a chemical decontamination firm, cork supply company, and several manufacturers.
Under a current contract with the city, Valero provides the city a base amount of $331,320 annually. The ordinance would terminate that contract and replace it with fees based on how much hazardous material Valero handles. That applies to other industrial facilities that fall under the ordinance as well. The city’s new plan starts with no fees for the smallest operators and increases up to $386,260 annual fee for the largest.
Julie Johnson is a reporter with The Chronicle’s climate and environment team. Previously she worked as a staff writer at the Santa Rosa Press Democrat, where she had a leading role on the team awarded the 2018 Pulitzer in breaking news for coverage of 2017 wildfires.
CALL TO ATTEND – By the Benicia Industrial Safety and Health Ordinance citizens group (BISHO)
Benicia, CA (March 28, 2025) – On Tuesday, April 1, Benicia City Council will meet to discuss and conduct its final vote on the draft Industrial Safety Ordinance (ISO) that will help protect Benicians against potential fires, explosions and toxic emissions connected to the Valero Refinery and other facilities. The meeting will be at Benicia City Hall, 230 East L Street, Benicia, beginning at 6 p.m.
“Because this is the final up-or-down vote on the ISO, we are urging supporters to attend to show support, either in person or by Zoom,” said Terry Mollica, a member of Benicia Industrial Safety and Health Ordinance (BISHO), a citizens group formed in 2023 to advocate for the passage of a strong Benicia Industrial Safety and Health Ordinance. “This is our last, best chance to establish an ISO that will get Benicia a seat at the table to protect the health and safety of our kids, our seniors and everyone else in our wonderful city.” BISHO has more than 250 supporters, with membership and website visits growing as more refinery incidents occur. Benicia is the only Bay Area refinery town without an ISO.
Benicia City Council voted in January 2023 to begin the process of developing a draft ISO to ultimately be presented to City Council for vote. Since that time, a City Council subcommittee, led by Council Members Terry Scott and Kari Birdseye and Fire Chief Josh Chadwick, have conducted multiple meetings with stakeholders, citizens, experts in industrial emissions, environmental groups, other Bay Area refinery cities and many others to gain feedback as to the best ISO for Benicia.
On March 4, City staff, led by Chief Chadwick, presented the draft ISO to Council and the public. After presentations by many community members, Valero and other industrial organizations to be affected by the ISO, Council voted unanimously to move forward with the draft, calling for a second reading and final vote.
“Our citizens group is thrilled that the ISO is close to becoming a reality,” said Mollica. “Along with local health and environmental advocates, we have spent years calling for tighter regulations to protect citizens from dangerous industrial emissions that impact air quality and the health of Benicians. We are finally near the finish line and are so grateful that City Council has supported this effort.”
The Valero Refinery in Benicia was one of four refineries in the SF Bay Area that did not meet air quality requirements for compliance with the Bay Area Quality Management District in 2023. (Chris Riley/Times-Herald file)
Aims to help protect citizens against potential fires, explosions, toxic emissions connected to Valero Refinery
Health will be the centerpiece of Tuesday night’s Benicia City Council meeting, set to feature a final vote on whether or not to adopt a draft of a safety ordinance.
The Industrial Safety Ordinance aims to help protect Benicians against potential fires, explosions and toxic emissions connected to the Valero Refinery and other facilities causing health concerns in the city for years.
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.
“Because this is the final up-or-down vote on the ISO, we are urging supporters to attend to show support, either in person or by Zoom,” said Terry Mollica, a member of Benicia Industrial Safety and Health Ordinance — a citizens group formed in 2023 to advocate for the passage of the ordinance. “This is our last, best chance to establish an ISO that will get Benicia a seat at the table to protect the health and safety of our kids, our seniors and everyone else in our wonderful city.”
The group has more than 250 supporters, with membership and website visits growing as more refinery incidents occur.
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 (an oversight agency) in 2024.
The city of Benicia was given a shelter-in-place alert and areas south of the Valero Refinery were evacuated after a power outage caused a flare up sending plumes of black smoke across Interstate 680. – Chris Riley — Times-Herald
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.
Valero was one of four other refineries that in 2023 didn’t meet requirements as defined by BAAQMD and Rule 12-15. That rule — 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.
The Benicia council voted in January 2023 to begin the process of developing a draft to ultimately be presented to the council for vote. Since that time, a council subcommittee, led by Council Members Terry Scott and Kari Birdseye and Fire Chief Josh Chadwick, has conducted multiple meetings with stakeholders, citizens, experts in industrial emissions, environmental groups, other Bay Area refinery cities and many others to gain feedback as to the best ISO for Benicia.
On March 4, City staff, led by Chadwick, presented the draft ordinance to the council and the public. After presentations by many community members, the council voted unanimously to move forward with the draft, calling for a second reading and final vote that will take place on Tuesday.
“Our citizens group is thrilled that the ordinance is close to becoming a reality,” said Mollica. “Along with local health and environmental advocates, we have spent years calling for tighter regulations to protect citizens from dangerous industrial emissions that impact air quality and the health of Benicians. We are finally near the finish line and are so grateful that the city council has supported this effort.”
The ordinance is on its third draft, which was constructed last month. This newest draft incorporates 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 meeting will be at Benicia City Hall, 230 East L Street, Benicia, beginning at 6 p.m.
The Bay Area Air District has established a new Community Investments Office to help direct funding from enforcement actions into projects that benefit communities most impacted by air pollution across the Bay Area. Your voice is critical in shaping how these funds will be distributed.
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