Investigation Shows Valero Benicia Refinery Released Toxic Chemicals for Years
KPIX5 CBS Bay Area News, by Andrea Nakano, February 24, 2022
[IMPORTANT – BenIndy Editor: The video coverage includes voices of concerned Benicia residents. Click the arrow above, and another arrow when the new page opens. If that doesn’t work for you, go to https://cbsloc.al/3HobW7f – R.S.]
BENICIA (KPIX) — At a community workshop Thursday, Benicia residents learned more about excessive levels of hazardous chemicals coming from the Valero Benicia refinery.
The Bay Area Air Quality Management District discovered the plant has been emitting those chemicals for more the 15 years. BAAQMD discovered the problems and started investigating in 2018.
Workshop attendees questioned why they weren’t notified about the emissions until last month.
An investigation by BAAQMD revealed emissions at the Valero refinery were, on average, hundreds of times higher than allowed by law. Pollutants included benzene, which causes an elevated risk of cancer and chronic health issues.
Many Benicia residents were furious nothing had been done sooner.
“When accidents happen in Benicia, we are never told about it in a timely matter where we can protect ourselves. That doesn’t work for those living next to the refinery that wake up to black powder on all of their cars. Kids are going to school and pets are out there breathing this black stuff that’s accumulating everywhere,” Pat Toth Smith said.
“For the community, the monitoring systems were supposed to give us a sense that we can trust,” Marilyn Bardet added.
Damian Breen with BAAQMD says the reason the district wasn’t able to alert Benicia residents earlier was to protect the integrity of the investigation and ensure that Valero is held accountable.
Valero provided a statement:
“The Valero Benicia Refinery discovered its hydrogen unit vent had trace contaminants. Valero took immediate steps to address the issue and has been working cooperatively with the Bay Area Air Quality Management District.”
Officials in Benicia and Solano County want to know why Valero’s oil refinery there was able to release excessive levels of hazardous chemicals for more than 15 years before regional air regulators discovered the emissions — and why those regulators failed for another three years to alert local communities to the potential danger.
A Bay Area Air Quality Management District investigation launched in November 2018 found that one refinery unit produced pollutant emissions that were, on average, hundreds of times higher than levels permitted by the agency.
The emissions consisted of a variety of “precursor organic compounds,” or POCs, including benzene and other toxic chemicals.
An air district rule limits the release of such compounds to 15 pounds a day and a maximum concentration of 300 parts per million. The district’s investigation found that from December 2015 through December 2018, POC emissions averaged 5,200 pounds a day — nearly 350 times the daily limit. The average POC concentration recorded during the first year of that period was 19,148 parts per million, more than 60 times the level set by the agency.
Those findings led the air district to issue a notice of violation to Valero in March 2019. But it wasn’t until late last month that the agency went public and announced it would seek to impose an abatement order requiring the refinery to halt the excessive pollution releases.
“That was the first I had heard of it,” said Benicia Mayor Steve Young, one of four members of the city council who say they want to know why the community was not told earlier.
“We should have been notified by the air district when this was first discovered in 2019, and certainly while negotiations with Valero were going on,” he said.
The Solano County agency responsible for inspecting the Valero refinery and investigating incidents there says it was also left out of the loop.
Chris Ambrose, a hazardous materials specialist with the county’s Environmental Health Division, said in an email his agency “was never formally notified by or requested to participate in BAAQMD’s emissions investigation.”
A health risk assessment carried out by the air district in 2019 found that the refinery’s release of benzene and other pollutants posed an elevated risk of cancer and chronic health threats and violated several agency regulations.
Solano County Health Officer Bela Matyas told KQED that because the wind often pushes refinery emissions away from Benicia, the refinery’s prolonged pollution releases didn’t likely pose any extreme risk to residents.
“But it doesn’t excuse the process. It doesn’t excuse the failure to adhere to standards and it doesn’t provide any excuse for the fact that the city of Benicia was put at some risk as a result of these emissions,” Matyas said.
The air district, which plans to hold a virtual public workshop on the Valero releases on Thursday night, is defending its decision to not alert local officials earlier.
“To protect the integrity of the air district’s investigation and ensure that Valero is held accountable, we were not able to notify the city of Benicia until the investigation was concluded,” district spokesperson Kristine Roselius said.
“Going forward, the air district is committed to additional transparency around these types of ongoing violations, to putting companies in front of our hearing board in a public forum where information can be shared, and working to ensure these types of cases are brought into that forum as quickly as possible,” she said.
The hearing board Roselius referred to is an independent panel created under state law to rule on issues that arise at individual facilities that the air district regulates. The board is scheduled to consider the district’s abatement order at an all-day public session on March 15.
At issue is the infrastructure that produces hydrogen for the facility. Hydrogen is integral to several refining processes, but demand for it throughout the refinery fluctuates. When the supply of hydrogen in the system is higher than the demand for it, the refinery vents the unneeded gas into the atmosphere.
At issue is the infrastructure that produces hydrogen for the facility. Hydrogen is integral to several refining processes, but
The air district says that soon after it launched its investigation in late 2018, it discovered that Valero had known since 2003 that the refinery was venting hydrogen that contained a range of regulated pollutants, including benzene, toluene, ethylbenzene and xylene.
In 2019, Valero devised a workaround that reduced emissions significantly but still failed to bring them within allowable limits.
The air district’s proposed abatement order would set up a timeline for the company to design and build a new vent system to bring the facility into compliance, with the work completed no later than the facility’s next “turnaround” — the industry term for a refinery-wide maintenance shutdown.
The Benicia City Council has asked Valero executives and air district officials to answer questions at its March 1 council meeting.
Mayor Young, Vice Mayor Tom Campbell and council members Christina Strawbridge and Lionel Largaespada all say they want to know how the emissions went undetected for so long.
“I’d like to know how it was missed when Valero has had two or three full plant turnarounds since 2003 and the air board is out there every week,” Campbell said.
A Valero representative responded to a request for comment by referring KQED to a city of Benicia press release that includes the air district’s proposed abatement order.
The air district says it’s consulting with the U.S. Environmental Protection Agency to determine whether the Valero releases violated federal law. It’s unclear when the EPA learned of the refinery problems.
It’s almost time for the Benicia Community Air Monitoring webinar on March 3rd, 2022 at 7 pm. Please be sure to preregister by clicking on this link: webinar registration page—or use the QR code in the flyer (see below).
This air monitoring station has been in the works for years. Finally, we’ll be able to see what is in our air.
See you there!
The Bay Area Air Quality Management District (BAAQMD) will have two important informational meetings to discuss the serious emissions violations incurred by the Valero Refinery. BAAQMD sets and enforces air pollution regulations in the Bay Area. Valero’s violations included dangerous benzene emissions.
The first meeting is THIS THURSDAY, FEB 24, FROM 6 TO 8 PM.
In the words of Jack Broadbent, executive officer of the Air District:
Valero’s disregard for air quality regulations and public safety in the surrounding communitywarrants decisive action and significant penalties to deter violations in the future. Valero did not report or control the emissions from this source as required by Air District regulations, state and federal law.
Please plan to attend the following Zoom meetings to get answers to your questions, find out more details about what has been released into our air, and learn how it could have affected the air quality in Benicia. What will be the consequences to the refinery for their negligent action? Show Valero and the Air District that we care and are prepared to take action to protect our community!!
At our last general membership meeting we announced a webinar for Benicia Community Air Monitoring System on the 24th. That has now been moved to March 3rd so you can attend these BAAQMD meetings, which we feel are vital for every member and supporter to join if they can, so we can make our voices heard on the matter of these violations, and demand Valero take important steps to regain the trust of our community. Please plan to attend!
Tuesday, March 1, 6 pm Benicia City Council will address the Valero emission violations at their regularmeeting. City council members have requested a briefing on the Valero case from Air District enforcement staff. This meeting is also open to the public. Please go to this page on the City of Benicia’s website for information on how to join.
Tuesday, March 15, 9:30 am The second BAAQMD meeting is a legal hearing, where the Air District’sHearing Board will consider approving the proposed abatement order. The public can view the agenda and provide written comment to the Hearing Board at the following link: Hearing Board Agendas, Reports, and Orders (baaqmd.gov)
The public can also provide verbal comments to the Hearing Board during the hearing in the following ways: Join Zoom webinar: https://bayareametro.zoom.us/j/88980571855
Webinar ID: 889 8057 1855
. . . or dial in remotely via phone at (669) 900-6833 or (408) 638-0968
Please plan to attend one or all of these meetings, and thank you for supporting the health and safety of our community by taking action with us. Together, we will show Valero that no amount of cash they pump into our local elections will protect them from facing consequences for these very serious violations.
Kathy Kerridge, Int. Chair, Progressive Democrats of Benicia
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