Category Archives: Benicia Industrial Park

Benicia Fire Department, Benicia Industrial Park, Valero Benicia Refinery

Weekend odor in Benicia caused by mechanical issue at refinery

[Note from BenIndy: You may be wondering why we’ve been slow to report on this incident at the Valero Benicia Refinery when usually we’d be all over it, and well ahead of the game at that. In this case there was a need elsewhere, in the form of helping the good folks in the Benicia Industrial Safety and Healthy Ordinance Working Group (BISHO) put a website together to generate more interest and community engagement in pursuit of Benicia adopting its own industrial safety ordinance. We regret the sparse coverage of this important incident at the Valero Benicia Refinery, but hope you understand that those of us keeping the BenIndy going are also active in service to delivering the brilliant, overarching goal of meaningful City and community oversight over heavy industry in Benicia. Please forgive this lapse in our coverage, and take a minute to review the BISHO.org website. If you are interested in these matters, please sign up using the contact forms on that website. Also, don’t forget to sign up for future incident alerts at www.solanocounty.com/AlertSolano.]

Valero Benicia Refinery file photo. | Paul Chinn / SF Chron.

Vallejo Times-Herald, by Lynzie Lowe, February 26, 2024

The Valero Benicia Refinery informed the Benicia Fire Department on Friday of an unanticipated mechanical issue, which released refined hydrocarbons that caused a strong odor throughout the city of Benicia over the weekend.

When the unit went down, officials said it was necessary to immediately move the product inside into another tank.

“It was discovered that in the process of moving the product, some of it got on the lid of a tank and that was the source of the strong odor,” read a release issued by city officials on Saturday. “There is no specific name for the product; it is a mixture of refined hydrocarbons similar to a light oil. The chemical vapor in the air causing the odor is H2S, hydrogen sulfide. The odor has dissipated significantly in most parts of Benicia.”

Della Olm, Management Analyst and Benicia Fire Department Public Information Officer, said, as of Monday morning, the spill on the tank lid is almost cleaned up and is expected to be completely mitigated by the end of the day Monday or Tuesday morning.

City officials said the Benicia Fire Department has been in continuous communication with Solano County Public Health, who has recommended to only shelter in place if the odor smell was too strong and/or it was aggravating. The Benicia Fire Department staff were also activated at the Valero Emergency Operations Center over the weekend.

“The refinery is flaring intermittently due to the unit shut off on the evening of February 23,” according to a press release. “Intermittent flaring will continue for an undetermined period of time.”

To receive city alerts in the future, sign up for AlertSolano at www.solanocounty.com/AlertSolano.

Other reporting on this recent refinery incident:

Benicia Fire Department, Benicia Industrial Park, Benicia Mayor Elizabeth Patterson, Emergency Readiness & Response, Flaring, Valero Benicia Refinery

Cleanup operations paused at Bay Area refinery after flaring, odor

Valero’s Benicia Refinery.  | File photo.

SF Chronicle, by Danielle Echeverria, February 24, 2024

Cleanup operations paused Saturday night after a work on a mechanical problem at Benicia’s Valero Refinery that caused flaring and emitted an odor in the area, the city announced.

The source of the odor was a refined hydrocarbon that was being moved between two tanks at the refinery, the city’s Fire Department said.

Della Olm, the public information officer for the Fire Department, explained that a unit at the refinery malfunctioned Friday night and had to be shut off, prompting the flaring. Refinery crews were moving the product to a functioning unit Saturday, emitting the odor, she said.

Any additional flaring Saturday was associated with the same issue, she said.

Pacific Gas and Electric Co., Benicia Fire and Valero’s own Fire Department were at the scene and investigating, she said.

“The odor has dissipated significantly in most parts of Benicia,” the city posted in an update early Saturday afternoon.

Cleanup operations paused Saturday night and will restart again Sunday morning, the city posted in an update at 7:40 p.m. Saturday.

“Intermittent flaring will continue for an undetermined period of time,” the city announced. “We will continue to monitor air quality throughout the night.”

Benicia Fire was testing air quality using portable air monitors at multiple points in the city. The department recommended that people remain indoors and close doors and windows if the odor was strong in their area.

Warren Pederson contributed to this report. 

Other reporting on this recent refinery incident:

Benicia CA, Benicia Industrial Park, Contra Costa County, Industrial Safety Ordinance (ISO), Martinez CA, Refinery safety, Richmond CA, Rodeo CA

Andrés Soto Letter: Benicians Deserve Better

Repost from the Benicia Herald, Forum Page

Benicia deserves better

Andrés Soto

February 21, 2018, By Andrés Soto

Benicia is the only Bay Area refinery town that does not have the community protection of an Industrial Safety Ordinance, or ISO.

In 1999, the city of Richmond and Contra Costa County adopted their interlocking ISOs. The Richmond ordinance mirrors the Contra Costa ISO, and Contra Costa County Hazardous Materials Division is responsible for enforcement and reporting.

Their experience with repeated refinery and associated hydrogen plant polluting events caused the elected leaders to respond to pressure from the disproportionally impacted communities in Richmond, Rodeo and Martinez for greater protection and information about polluting incidents.

How did Benicia miss out?

Since the adoption of the ISO, there have continued to be dangerous and deadly incidents at these Bay Area refineries, albeit at reduced rates, due to the ISO. Fortunately, the Richmond/Contra Costa ISO allows for corrective provisions that have improved refinery function and provided impacted communities with timely investigative information.

Under the ISOs, a 72-hour post incident report is available to the public. Monthly reports, or more frequently if necessary, follow that report and are publicly posted. To date, neither the Benicia City Council nor the people of Benicia have received any official reports on the nearly monthlong Valero flaring disaster this past May.

Based on the success of the Richmond/Contra Costa ISO, the California legislature adopted some of the process safety management portions of the ISO and made them state law, going into effect in October.

Unfortunately, the legislature did not adopt all elements of the ISOs. Benicia’s ability to receive information, publish the results of investigations to the public and to require Valero to take corrective action simply does not exist. Can we wait for the legislature to strengthen the state law?

While Valero and PG&E point the finger at each other over who is at fault for the Valero flaring disaster in May, Benicia remains in the dark. We know Valero was given permits to construct an adequate backup generator system but only one co-generator was built and the permit for the other was allowed to expire after several extensions, probably because of Valero’s bureaucrats in Texas.

Do we Benicians think we can count on Texas oil men to put our health and safety ahead of their profits? The lesson we learned from the successful battle to stop Valero’s dangerous Crude-By-Rail Project is the company seems to stop at nothing to ensure their profits – even at the expense of Benicians.

Benicia deserves better!

Andrés Soto,
Benicia

Benicia Industrial Park, Derailment, Petroleum Coke (Petcoke)

Six Benicia derailments in last five years – Union Pacific investigating

Repost from the Benicia Herald
[Editor: For background on the 6 derailments in the Benicia Industrial Park over the last 5 years, see my recent article, Train cars come off the tracks in Benicia Industrial Park – again…  – RS]

Union Pacific still investigating cause of derailment Saturday

By George Johnston, September 29, 2017

A Union Pacific Railroad train derailed in Benicia on Saturday afternoon [September 23, 2017].

The train, consisting of nine hopper cars, derailed near Bayshore Road in the Benicia Industrial Park around 3:40 p.m. No injuries were reported from the incident, and no hazardous materials were spilled. Union Pacific Railroad is currently investigating the situation, representatives for the company said.

Since 2013, at least six train derailments have been reported in the Industrial Park. The most recent prior to Saturday’s accident included two over the course of a week last October. In all instances, no injuries or spillages were reported.