Tuesday, August 7, 2012

Chevron refinery fire in Richmond


Gasoline prices are going up, some jobs will be interrupted, air quality sucks, some people had respiratory problems; and it seems the Sierra Club would prefer to eliminate the plant. 

"A fire at Chevron Corp. (CVX)’s Richmond oil refinery in California pushed gasoline prices higher today as it disrupted fuel output at the state’s third-largest crude- processing plant. 

Richmond refinery fire started Monday, 8/6/12, 6:15 pm
Chevron’s 240,000-barrel-a-day refinery shut its only crude unit after the fire yesterday, Heather Kulp, a Richmond-based spokeswoman for Chevron, said today. The fire is out, she said, and the plant is maintaining a small controlled burn at the crude unit to relieve pressure. Other units are operating at unknown levels, Kulp said.

These increases will be passed along to retail pumps at California and gas stations as far north as Seattle,” Bob van der Valk, a petroleum industry analyst in Terry, Montana, said in an e-mail. He said BP Plc (BP/)’s Cherry Point refinery in Washington took four months to reach full operation after a fire in February."  "Bloomberg Businessweek"/Lynn Doan and Dan Murtaugh, 8/7/12. "Chevron Refinery fire pushes California gasoline prices higher."  Read Article.

"This refinery is the third largest in California and plays a crucial part in the surrounding economy, providing around 1,000 jobs to the Bay Area. The fire began from a crude distillation unit (CDU), which breaks down oil for other units in the refinery. CDUs can take months to repair, during which operations in the refinery are limited. Any disruption in production will not only affect the surrounding town’s economy, but could raise the cost of fuel across the country. California is known for their super-clean specifications, which will definitely put a wrench in any quick recovery that Chevron might hope for.  Bostlnno (News from Boston), /Kristen Desmarais 8/7/12, "Chevron fire erupts in California, finally contained." Read Article.
Richmond refinery fire Tuesday, 8/7/12, about 1:30 pm.

....  "Environmental group the Sierra Club's statement reflected more concern. 'No one should have to live downwind of a dangerous oil refinery," said a statement attributed to Sierra Club Environmental Justice and Community Partnerships Director Leslie Fields."Our thoughts are with the families living near the Chevron facility who must now contend with the aftermath and long-term health consequences of breathing in smoke filled with dangerous particulate matter, soot and cancer-causing toxins like sulfur compounds. These explosions and the massive toxic cloud hanging over their community and homes are only a part of the pattern of operation at Chevron’s Richmond facility, and Chevron should be held to account'." San Francisco Business Times/Lindsay Riddell, 8/7/12.  Read Article.

Related -  New York Daily News/The Associated Press, 8/7/12,  good article with two pictures near the plant.

Posted by Kathy Meeh

18 comments:

Anonymous said...

The refinery fire has nothing to do with Pacifica. Why is it here?

Anonymous said...

The hippies stopped Chevron from expanding this plant.

Way to go hippies.

Anonymous said...

And high gas prices may be the reason why Obama gets bounced out of office.

Remember voters vote thinking of the checkbook.

The only thing worse then Obama would be Romney!

Kathy Meeh said...

"..nothing to do with Pacifica." Anonymous 8/7, 5:29 PM

Where is that blog mission statement you're referring to? Keep looking and when you find it let us know.

That said, there are at least 6 issues described in the total article you might want to think about, or not.

1. According to the news, the cost of gasoline will to be more expensive beginning Saturday. This higher cost of gasoline will affect California, Oregon and Washington and is expected to continue until the plant is slowly restored.

2. The Richmond refinery is California's 3rd largest crude oil processing plant, so the fire damage will also cause a dent in the economy, as well as individual pocketbooks.

3. 1000 or so worker jobs will be cut back or lost until the plant can be rebuilt.

4. The respiratory health of some people in the Richmond area has been compromised.

5. The Richmond community (part of our Bay Area region) is dealing with the results of a disaster, affecting Chevron Corporation, government, businesses, and families.

6. The Sierra Club (which periodically interferes with Pacifica and other regional development) added its curses to the disaster, including the plant location. Truth be known, the Sierra Club probably does not value refineries.

Anonymous said...

The mission statement is on the title of this blog "Fix Pacifica". The very first post on this blog is about the mission statement of direction of this blog.

Ms. Meeh you need to re-read that first post and focus your energies on Pacifica. We can learn lessons from other places, but this one is not relevant to the political issues here

Kathy Meeh said...

"The very first post on this blog is about the mission statement of direction of this blog." Anonymous 9:18 AM

No it isn't. Its simply a 2 1/2 year old article. However, the blog does have an accountable city point of view, and always has had.

Here's the policy of the blog: "Submission and comment policy. Want to share an article or opinion? Unlike some other Pacifica blogs, Fix Pacifica won't bury viewpoints we disagree with. Send your submission, along with your name, to fixpacifica@gmail.com." That policy was set by Steve Sinai, Blogmaster.

Sure I would prefer more people post articles.

Anonymous said...

The blog is Fix Pacifica, not SFGate, USA Today, or Kathy's Personal Politics Page. Stay focused on Pacifica and work on getting better people elected to city council. Stop cheerleading for Obama and reprinting articles that other news sites already cover.

Kathy Meeh said...

Anonymous 11:16 AM, nice name Steve gave the blog.

Your concerns are directly related to you submitting your articles for posting. I assume you are a person, not a robot. People post articles, not robots.

Anonymous said...

Faux Pacifica, cause you you you people haven't fixed a damn thing?

Anonymous said...

Huh? You make no sense, Kathy.

Hutch said...

I think this is very relevant to Pacifica. Gas in Pacifica jumped up 25¢ today because of the fire. And besides if you don't like it start your own blog or go to a different site.

Anonymous said...

Gas jumped in price everywhere.

Anonymous said...

Wow, I always wondered how and why Tex, finds the time to post all these annon messages!

Kathy Meeh said...

Anonymous detractor(s) and critic(s) commenting on this article, Fix Pacifica has offered a blog home for those who would fix Pacifica. That should be clear enough. So, I agree with Hutch at 12:21 PM about the article relevance.

Anon 12:14 AM, my 11:49 AM reply to you is something for you to think about. Translated: if you don't submit articles for posting, you get me. Meantime your bitching is just that.

Readership. I'm looking at the current blog statistics. There were, 20,540 page views last month. Today so far 571, and its not yet 1 PM. We must be doing something right. And, of course, direct Pacifica information is almost always welcome.

Anonymous said...

People like looking at train wrecks too, Kathy.

Kathy Meeh said...

That sounds like the reason Pacifica needs fixing, Anon 1:01 PM.

Anonymous said...

Do you always have to have the last word, Kathy?

Hutch said...

So we have some of the most expensive gas in the country because California has to have a special summer blend. We are the only state requiring this.

Is it worth the billions more we are paying or is it just another environmental folly?