29 Jul County Gives All Clear After Flaring at Chevron Refinery

The Contra Costa County Sheriff’s Office issued a public health advisory and map of affected zones after an incident at the Chevron Refinery in Richmond on Tuesday. (Contra Costa County Sheriff’s Office via Bay City News)

By Bay City News

The Chevron Richmond refinery reported flaring at the facility Tuesday afternoon, but county health officials have already given the “all clear” for normal activities to resume nearby.

Contra Costa Health initially issued an advisory at about 3:30 p.m. about an incident at the refinery in Richmond, saying it could affect people with respiratory sensitivities in parts of Richmond and San Pablo.

Chevron Richmond spokesperson Caitlin Powell said the refinery was “experiencing flaring and our workforce is working quickly to minimize and stop the flaring.”

Powell said this was considered a Level 1 incident under the county’s Community Warning System and that a Level 2 Public Health Advisory “was mistakenly issued,” but did not elaborate. She said there was no emergency response or community action required by the flaring, and the county confirmed shortly before 4 p.m. that there was no threat to the public.

The county’s system says Level 1 alerts are issued when there is a hazardous materials threat including flaring lasting longer than 20 minutes. Level 2 alerts are issued when the incident may impact the health of sensitive populations.

Powell said people can find real-time air quality measurements in the area of the refinery at https://richmondairmonitoring.org/.

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