Valero’s Community Advisory Panel |

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.

Earlier this week, General Manager Lauren Bird said the black plume was a composition of steam and rust. Bird was speaking April 14 at the final meeting of the refinery’s community advisory panel.

And although Bird said that about a dozen contractors were given first aid onsite, he says no one was taken to hospitals. He and other Valero officials faced tough questions from the refinery’s community advisory panel about why the company waited a day to report the incident to state monitors. Valero reported the flare to the California Office of Emergency Services, but only after calls from Solano County environmental health officers.

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Valero said emission was non-toxic

March’s incident, Bird said, occurred after crews, using a mixture of steam and industrial cleaner to clear pipes, released too much steam into the system, blowing a seal and sending water and rust into the air via the plume.

“There were some odors associated with it, likely from the corrosion products that are being cleaned out of the system,” said Bird, who added the release went on for about six minutes before it was brought under control. “We pulled a sample of the material. The actual constituent analysis indicates the material was non-hazardous, it was not an irritant, it was non-toxic… it was not a carcinogenic.”

Valero sampled 14 sites in Benicia for possible contamination.

Bird said that workers nearby who were sprayed with the mixture accessed emergency safety showers before accessing first aid.

Solano County officials urged Valero to report the incident

California regulations require companies to immediately report any significant release or threatened release of a hazardous material to the California Office of Emergency Services.

State public records show Valero had an open hazardous materials spill report February and March related to ongoing flaring and sulfur dioxide releases. On March 26, Valero informed state officials of “no additional release.” A March 27 note says, “For yesterdays update report …the correct update is that there was a release of water with residual cleaning material and residual iron sulfide, at an unknown quantity.”

Refinery community advisory panel member Cara Bateman is an environmental manager. During the meeting Tuesday, she questioned why Valero did not report the event to the state that day.

Bird responded that the plant chose not to report initially because they knew the substance was non-toxic.

“Initially, even as of that evening, it hadn’t been reported to the state,” Bateman said. “You go through the [Office of Emergency Services’] database, and there are scores of reports every year from us because it caused some sort of public nuisance.”

She continued: “You had kids who got picked up from school to go home and people with crap on their cars.”

Solano County Supervising Hazardous Materials Specialist Chris Ambrose interrupted discussions to say that his team called Valero to urge the plant to report the emissions.

“Given that there were odors and potential off-site consequences, the next day, we got on the phone with [Valero] and asked, ‘Why wasn’t this reported?’ Ambrose told Tuesday’s community advisory meeting. “I’m not sure what discussions took place off the phone… [but Valero] called into the state.”

Although Bird apologized for the emission, he reiterated that the plant had conducted sampling and downwind monitoring, which showed the release was non-toxic.

Valero, others under investigation

Several agencies are investigating the incident for potential illegal actions.

Cal/OSHA received complaints from workers about the incident and launched an investigation into potential worker safety violations. Valero and contracting companies are named in the investigation, including Refined Technologies, USA Debusk, T.R.S.C., and Specialty Welding and Turnarounds. The investigation is ongoing.

In addition, the Bay Area Air District is investigating and has already issued a notice of violation that states the March 26 incident was a “public nuisance caused by emissions.”

The March incident marked the eighth public notification issued by the City of Benicia regarding public impacts from refinery shutdown operations.

The plant has officially stopped refining, meaning that flaring is over, Bird said. Valero plans to continue importing, storing, and distributing gas and diesel at the location before likely exiting within the next two years.

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Final Community Advisory Panel meeting: Who will respond if there is trouble?

The stacks at Benicia’s Valero refinery have gone cold but layoffs during company’s transition away from refining have also cost the plant its dedicated fire brigade.

The Benicia Bridge, by Laura López González, April 17, 2026

Valero laid off its refinery firefighters in Benicia. Now, company executives have said they hope to rely on the Benicia Fire Department, contractors, and neighboring refineries to provide the manpower needed to tackle a future fire.

Valero completed its latest round of layoffs this week, leaving about 70 employees, General Manager Lauren Bird said Tuesday at the refinery’s final community advisory panel meeting. About 20 employees will be left alongside contractors as the plant continues to import, store and distribute gas and diesel in the near future. The company will no longer import jet fuel through Benicia, citing easier routes to support airports, Valero Section Business Law Chief David Giles said at the meeting. Valero will use a fraction of its tanks for storage.

Among the layoffs were Valero’s own firefighters, leaving serious questions about who would respond to potential fires at the facility. Valero officials admitted that, although rare, possible tank fires are their biggest concern. These fires, which occur inside petroleum storage tanks, require specialized training and equipment that can take hours to set up.

“We’re going to train our employees to work the fire suppression systems. We’re going to conduct annual drills with the Benicia Fire Department here on site, and then we’re going to lead that initial response,” said Tommy Stone, Valero senior health, safety, and emergency response manager. “From there, we’re going to rely on our industrial partners.”

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Valero and other local refineries are part of a mutual aid group, Stone explains. It’s why better-resourced refinery fire brigades from Valero and Chevron’s Richmond refineries responded to the 2019 fire at Crockett’s NuStar tank farm. Investigators determined that fire was caused by an explosion due to static electricity build-up or a spark in one tank that spread to another tank when its roof blew off, according to a KTVU report. It resulted in a 15-acre fire.

Valero had its own fire at the Benicia Refinery last May, which was reportedly sparked by a broken furnace, according to the San Francisco Chronicle.

Although Valero would maintain what it says are sufficient stocks of specialized firefighting foam at its Benicia plant, it would outsource actual firefighting to the Benicia Fire Department, neighboring refineries, and paid off-site industrial firefighting firms, US Fire Pump and Williams Fire & Hazard Control.

Benicia Council Member Terry Scott expressed reservations regarding Valero’s reliance on aid from other nearby refineries. He expressed particular concern for neighborhoods like Hillcrest in Benicia that are in close proximity to the plant.

“The City of Benicia has potentially 10 firefighters [on duty at a time] that we could bring to a potential fire,” he said. “I mean this with no disrespect, please, but it concerns me that we’re talking about a ‘hopeful’ strategy.”

Benicia Fire Chief Josh Chadwick said the plan is far from a done deal. Still, he added that it was a marked improvement from the company’s initial proposal, which he characterized as completely unworkable and “woefully inadequate.”

“What’s being presented today is 1000 times better than it was before,” Chadwick said, “but there’s a few things that need to be worked out.”

Community advisory panel member Cara Bateman is an environmental manager. She raised concerns about the state of existing fire water lines to the refinery. Giles assured the advisory group that Valero runs lines weekly to ensure adequate water pressure. And while there are leaks, he said pipes are working and will be maintained through the company’s tenure, which is unlikely to extend beyond two years.

Tuesday marked the community advisory panel’s final meeting, however, members hope to continue the dialogue with Valero representatives — perhaps as part of the city’s Industrial Safety Citizen Oversight Commission.

Giles suggested that Valero might be open to the idea.

“At least the way I view it is, if we’re going to have operations here for fuel imports, then we need to have a dialog so there’s information.”

This story was reported by Laura López González. Reach out at laura@thebeniciabridge.com.