Chevron has agreed to pay more than a quarter-million dollars for air-quality violations at its Richmond refinery.
The San Francisco Bay Area Air-Quality Management District announced the settlement on Thursday. The $278,000 civil penalty covers 27 violations at Chevron's Richmond plant between 2011 and 2013.
The air-quality district says the violations included vapor leaks, improper permitting and other problems at the Richmond plant.
The district adds that none of the problems resulted in significant dangerous emissions from the plant.
In July, Richmond city leaders approved a $1 billion upgrade of Chevron's troubled 1960s-era oil refinery, the largest in Northern California, after the company agreed to safety and piping upgrades and greater community investment.
The refinery complex has weathered a series of toxic releases and other accidents over the years, environmental officials say, including a pollutant-laced 2012 fire that forced 15,000 Bay Area residents to seek treatment for breathing problems.
The Chevron refinery was built before the pollution-curbing requirements of the federal government's 1970s Clean Air Act.
