Flaring at Chevron’s Richmond Refinery Alarms Residents

Residents in Richmond were alarmed Sunday night at the sight of flames shooting into the sky at the Chevron oil refinery.

Social media lit up with reports of a fire, but Chevron said it was "normal" flaring that occurs during the refining process. Witnesses said the latest flare lasted from before sundown until about 10pm and sent a plume of smoke into the air.

Chevron spokeswoman Leah Casey said the flare was a result of an "upset" in one of the hydrocracking process units.

Casey said the flare was not part of scheduled maintenance and came in response to a build up of pressure within the hydroprocessing unit.

there was initial flaring, then a pause for a while

it looked pretty severe because of the timing - sunset

but as far as what that means

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although it looked alarming, emission levels were

"There was initial flaring, then a pause for a while. It looked pretty severe because of the timing, the smoke against the sunset," she said. "Although it looked alarming, our air quality monitoring systems showed emission levels within the safe range."

Richmond Hills resident Matt Renner said he saw flames shooting in the sky and saw a big, black cloud of smoke blowing in his direction.

"It's not supposed to happen. They're not supposed to just burn off chemicals and polllute the sky," he said. "It felt like the world was ending. The refinery is blowing up, the Warriors lost."

Renner called Chevron's emergency hotline and the woman who answered told him to shelter in place until refinery managers could get more information.

the PR operation just tells you to be calm while they figure it out.

"We need to know what happened there. We've moved beyond the era of trusting oil companies. They no longer deserve that trust," he said.

Environmental watch-dog groups said the flaring incident is just the most recent in a series of mishaps at the Chevron refinery.

"The flaring was pronounced. There was black smoke and it went on for quite some time," said Greg Karras, a scientist with Communities for a Better Environment. "It's happened way too many times before in this unit at this refinery. It's a pattern of unsafe operation and pollution from this refinery."

Chevron released a statement saying the flaring started Sunday afternoon and occurred intermittently into the evening.

"Although the sight of the flare may cause concern, we want to assure our neighbors that occasional flaring is an important part of keeping the refinery running safely," the statement said. "Flares are a safety device used in refineries to relieve pressure during the refining processes and help keep our equipment and plants operating safely."

The hydroprocessing unit removes impurities like sulfur and nitrogen and heavy metals. It also uses catalysts breaks down larger hydrocarbon molecules into fuels for gas tanks, diesel engines and jets.

California refineries are required to report hazardous materials emissions to the governor's Office of Emergency Services where preliminary information is recorded in a database.

One report filed Sunday said hydrocarbons were being released into the atmosphere but promised that the situation would stabilize soon. Another report, filed more than 3 hours later, described a release of black smoke and reported a flare caused by the depressurized hydroprocessing unit.

The Contra Costa Co. Health Department's hazardous materials division has asked Chevron to file a report within 72 hours because the incident was visible from off-site.

The refinery must file another report on the cause of the flare within 90 days to the Bay Area Air Quantity Management District, which could find a violation of air quality rules and impose fines for the incident.

The oil giant encouraged concerned residents to visit www.fenceline.org/richmond to view real-time air quality data and call 510-242-2127 for any odor concerns.

.@ChevronRichmond refinery on fire yet again. Local communities pay the true cost of @chevron operations & neglect. pic.twitter.com/yHXPHCV2PP — AMAZON WATCH (@AmazonWatch) June 20, 2016

Appears to be another fire at the @Chevron refinery cc: @berkeleyside pic.twitter.com/QQN993SAJb — Andy Donohue (@add) June 20, 2016

The industrial equivalent of the 4pm Friday press release: The 9:30pm Sunday refinery flare. #Chevron pic.twitter.com/AtGrgQrGII — Jeremy Miller (@JeremyJ_Miller) June 20, 2016