A town-hall meeting organized by Andres Soto and local group Communities for a Better Environment drew about 120 people to the downtown headquarters of the Richmond Progressive Alliance.
"This has really set us back," said Mayor Gayle McLaughlin, a member of the Green Party. McLaughlin said the black cloud emitted from the fire, which occurred in the No. 4 crude unit that processes diesel crude oil, was a new stain on the city's improving reputation.
Panelists at the meeting included Greg Karras, senior scientist for Communities for a Better Environment, Global Monitoring's Executive Director Denny Larsen and Councilwoman Jovanka Beckles.
Karras said the recent fire at the 240,000-barrel-per-day facility may have stemmed from a 1998 transition toward processing crude with higher sulfur content, which accelerates corrosion in parts like the 8-inch pipe that sprung a leak Aug. 6, creating a massive vapor cloud that ignited minutes later.
"That decision increased the inherent hazard of refining," Karras said.
Investigators for the U.S. Chemical Safety Board, one of the several agencies probing the incident site, have said that the history of the pipe and decisions not to replace it are a key line of inquiry in their investigation. The pipe is believed to have been in use since the 1970s.
Karras said that after the pipe containing 600-degree diesel oil first sprung a leak, the decision to not shut the unit down may have contributed to the subsequent fire.
The fire broke out at 6:15 p.m., about two hours after the leak was discovered. Workers removed insulation from the pipe in an effort to avert a larger incident but evacuated before the fire ignited. Four workers suffered minor injuries.
Larsen criticized Chevron and the Bay Area Air Quality Management District, saying both institutions played a role in the failure to install real-time air-quality monitoring equipment in the surrounding community, which he said was a condition of a tax settlement between the city and the refinery in 2010.
County Supervisor John Gioia, chairman of the air quality district board, said Friday that the blame should not fall on the district. Gioia said Chevron failed to install ground-level air monitors, which it agreed to as part of the tax settlement.
"I have proposed more air quality monitors around all Bay Area oil refineries, and that issue will get discussed at a special meeting of the board on Sept. 10," Gioia said.
More than 14,000 people have visited area hospitals since the fire, complaining of respiratory problems and other discomforts, but data on exactly what toxins were in the air have been scant.
Karras and Larsen said it is imperative that Richmond residents be privy to real-time monitoring of particulates and other airborne toxins in their community, of which Chevron's refinery has been a part for more than a century.
Chevron has released statements saying that it works with more than 30 agencies under some of the nation's strictest pollution rules and has drastically reduced emissions in recent decades. Chevron also opened claim centers near downtown and in North Richmond to reimburse residents for expenses incurred as a result of the fire.
McLaughlin said Communities for a Better Environment and other community groups have been instrumental in prodding Chevron and investigators to accept community input and provide regular updates as the investigation unfolds. The final report on the fire's cause may not be ready for months.
A community meeting is scheduled for 10 a.m. Monday in the Richmond City Council chamber. City officials and representatives from several investigative agencies, including the Environmental Protection Agency and the state Division of Occupational Safety and Health, are expected to attend.
Karras said that community mobilization could force meaningful reforms.
"This is an unprecedented opportunity to be part of the investigation," Karras said.
Source: MercuryNews.com
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