Category Archives: Bay Area Refineries

Bay Area Refineries, Keeping Watch on Earth News, Phillips 66, Rodeo CA, Tar sands crude

Tar Sands Free SF Bay – Town Hall meeting Thurs Mar 7 2019, Rodeo Hills Elementary

Repost from Sunflower Alliance

Tar Sands Free SF Bay – Town Hall meeting Thurs Mar 7 2019, Rodeo Hills Elementary

Feb 27, 2019

Tar Sands Free SF Bay – Town Hall meeting Thurs Mar 7 2019, 6-8:30pm, Rodeo Hills Elementary – CLICK FOR FULL SIZE DOWNLOADABLE POSTER

This coming Thursday, refinery corridor residents and allies are presenting a community forum on Phillips 66’s very dangerous plans to expand tar sands refining at its Rodeo facility.

Increased use of tar sands in the P66 crude slate means vastly increased tanker traffic in the Bay, an increased risk of spills, and increased assaults on community health and our worsening climate.  This town hall is an opportunity to learn about the two linked P66 proposals—the first Environmental Impact Report drops soon—and what we can do to stop them.

Please come out to listen, learn, and offer support to impacted community residents.

Food and beverage provided!

Speakers:

  • Andres Soto, Communities for a Better Environment
  • Pennie Opal Plant [and or Alison Ehara Brown], Idle No More SF Bay
  • LaDonna Williams, All Positives Possible and Fresh Air Vallejo
  • Janice Kirsch, MD, 350 Bay Area
  • Janet Pygeorge, President, Rodeo Citizens Association
  • Greg Karris, Senior Scientist, Communities for a Better Environment

When:

Thursday, March 7th, 6:00 – 8:30 PM

Where:

Rodeo Hills Elementary School
All Purpose Room
545 Garretson Street, Rodeo, CA 94572

Sponsored by:

Rodeo Citizens Association, Crockett-Rodeo United to Defend the Environment, Fresh Air Vallejo, Sunflower Alliance, 350 Bay Area, Idle No More SF Bay, Communities for a Better Environment, and Stand.earth.

Watch Online:

Visit facebook.com/standearth at 6:00 PM PST on Thursday, March 7th.

RSVP:

action@sunflower-alliance.org

Air Monitoring, Air monitors, Air pollution, Air Quality, Bay Area Air Quality Management District (BAAQMD), Bay Area Refineries, Particulate matter, PurpleAir, Transportation emissions

MUST SEE: All about particulate matter air pollution in the Bay Area

From James Leach of Lafayette, CA, on YouTube
[Editor: This is a really important, really helpful, informative and challenging video. I thought I knew all about air pollution, but I learned a lot here.  It’s 38 minutes, so get comfortable or bookmark and come back when you have a little time.  – R.S.]

Clearing the air

By James Leach, published on Aug 19, 2018
Solving the particulate matter air pollution problem in Lafayette, California and the San Francisco Bay Area Region.

Air Quality, Bay Area Air Quality Management District, Bay Area Refineries, California Environmental Quality Act (CEQA), Reactive organic gases (ROG), Refinery emissions

Bay Area Air District proposing to give refineries a pass on air monitoring

[Editor: For more, including HOW TO SEND THE AIR DISTRICT YOUR COMMENT, see the Bay Area Air Quality Management District’s Notice of Public Hearing.  Plan to attend on December 19, 2018.  – RS]

BAAQMD: Costs for daily air monitoring too expensive… poor refineries…

By Benicia Vice Mayor Steve Young, October 23, 2018 
Steve Young, Benicia Vice Mayor

The Bay Area Air District (BAAQMD) recently released their proposal on how to deal with the problem of excess ROG (Reactive Organic Gas) emissions from refinery cooling towers. Here are my favorite two sections from their proposed way of dealing (or more accurately, not dealing), with the problem …

Amendments to Rule 11-10 reduce monitoring of cooling towers for hydrocarbon leaks from daily to weekly, with provisions to extend monitoring periods after proving no leaks for an extended time. Costs for daily monitoring were found to be excessive relative to the potential hydrocarbon emission reductions. Requirements for cooling tower best management practices and reporting were eliminated when found to be focused primarily on Process Safety Management and cooling water chemistry rather than leak detection.

The only feasible method to reduce ROG emissions from cooling towers is more frequent monitoring and repair, but this method was concluded to not be feasible due to economic factors as per CEQA Guidelines §15364. Thus, no feasible mitigation measures have been identified that could avoid the significant impact or reduce the impact to less than significant.

Generally, CEQA (the California Environmental Quality Act) does not allow  an environmental impact to be ignored based on the fact that reducing those impacts will cost money. And refineries certainly SHOULD be expected to spend money on such things as more frequent monitoring and repairs.

Going to testify at these hearings – where testimony is limited to no more than three minutes, and often shorter – is both necessary and, seemingly, pointless.

Bay Area Refineries, Keeping Watch on Earth News, Marine transport, Tar sands crude

Bay Area refineries want to do what?

Repost from a STAND.earth email
From: Matt Krogh, Extreme Oil Director, STAND.earth 
Sent: Monday, April 2, 2018 8:00 AM

Phillips 66 wants more tar sands tankers in the Bay

Dear …

We love San Francisco Bay just like you do, so when Big Oil comes up with yet another project that threatens our air and our water, we know it’s time to act. Next Monday April 9th, Bay Area refinery regulators will be meeting to discuss next steps on permitting expanded tar sands refining in the Bay–and now is your chance to let them know how you feel.

Phillips 66 and other Bay Area refineries are working hard to find new ways to access cheap, dirty tar sands crudes from Alberta–that’s why they’ve pushed for oil train offloading facilities, and that’s why they’re now trying to bring in a vast increase in tar sands tankers. But California’s regulators can say no to more tar sand projects in the Bay.

TAKE ACTION NOW

Increasing tar sands production is bad for Indigenous communities at the source in Alberta; transporting it threatens devastating oil spills in the waters of British Columbia, Washington, Oregon, and California; and refining it means more air, water, and climate pollution right here in San Francisco Bay. The life cycle of tar sands production is destructive to our health and the safety of our communities.

Please join us and sign the petition to encourage California’s regulators to say no to more tar sands.

Right now, people like you all around the Bay are working to reduce our dependence on oil and build the clean energy economy. More, dirtier crude just isn’t what the Bay needs. 

Big Oil first proposed bringing tar sands by oil trains–and together we beat them back in Pittsburg, San Luis Obispo, and Benicia. With your support, we can continue the momentum and beat Big Oil once again, this time by keeping more tar sands tankers out of San Francisco Bay.

Help pile on the pressure and tell California regulators to reject Phillips 66’s tar sands expansion proposal, and to stand with us against any new tar sands projects that threaten our water and air.

In solidarity,

Matt Krogh
Extreme Oil Director

Stand challenges corporations, industries, and governments to prioritize the well-being of people, our environment, and our climate by creating long-term, effective solutions. None of this work is possible without your support.