Chevron's Richmond refinery is experiencing ongoing flaring Wednesday morning, which has forced the oil company to issued a warning to area residents, according to company officials.
The flaring was first announced around 6:20 a.m., which officials said was due to a power outage that impacted refinery process units. A crew is currently on the scene working to resolve the outage.
Chevron officials said the warning issued was a "Level 1" on the Community Warning System, which they said is the lowest on the scale and indicates there will be no offsite environmental or public health impacts anticipated.
Company officials were not immediately available for comment, but in a statement said the flares are highly regulated safety devices designed to relieve pressure during refinery processes and helps keep their equipment and plants operating safely.
The Bay Area Air Quality Management District said officials are investigating what happened that caused the flaring.
A spokesman for the BAQMD says the investigation revolves around the flaring that was blamed by the company on a power outage. PG&E spokesperson said it was Chevron’s outage, not the utility’s.
There have been many flarings at the refinery over the years. NBC Bay Area's Investigative Unit previously reported on the serious safety violations found at the refinery in 2017.
