The Bay Area Air Quality Management District and Chevron USA Inc. have reached a $147,000 settlement for more than two dozen violations at Chevron’s Richmond refinery, the air district said Monday.
The settlement will cover 29 notices of violation that were issued to Chevron between 2016 and 2018 for multiple issues, including instances of flaring, odor nuisances, an excess of visible emissions and a larger-than-permitted amount of sulfur dioxide at a sulfur recovery operation at the refinery.
The violations have since been corrected.
“This settlement is part of an ongoing process to ensure that Chevron is held accountable and follows all state, local and federal permit conditions to protect the health of those in neighboring communities,” air district executive officer Jack Broadbent said.
“Chevron has agreed to settle Bay Area Air Quality Management District Notices of Violations and cooperated fully with the BAAQMD in reaching this agreement,” Chevron said in a statement. “Chevron takes environmental protections seriously and has taken preventive measures to avoid similar situations from occurring in the future.”
The settlement funds will be used to fund the district’s inspection and enforcement efforts throughout the region.
wow another lame fine for yet another set of violations from a lame dem entity
12 violations and a fine of 5 dollars to them great
i am sure they will NEVER do it again
what a joke
The refinery gets a fine.
The refinery passes the cost of the fine onto to public.
It’s just a roundabout way of unelected political donors taxing “we the people”.
Wow! That huge fine will really affect their bottom line.
Now if it’s you burning a Duraflame log 29 times you will be fined, your fireplace cemented in and jail time.
Granted this is a very small fine, but I’m curious.
Where does this money go?
Who collects it, and what is it used for?
If there were 29 citations in the span of 2 years, just imagine how many total infractions there were.
This token fine is a way to pay lip service to the complaints of lower income people that have probably lived with refinery spew for so long that they don’t even notice it.
For anyone doubting the hazard of these fumes, spend some time by the airport in Pacheco/Concord. What may seem a subtle off-odor, in the short term, leads to a diminished quality of life in the long term.
But what corporation in their right mind would pay for a study to research respiratory illnesses near a refinery?
Where are all the SJW’s on this one? Pink Lungs Matter!
Gee, $147k fills up the coffers at Air Quality district. This will last until they run out and then fine Chevron again to replenish their money supply.