Name: Richmond: Cleanup at Chevron refinery oil spill site, city beaches continues after leak
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Richmond: Cleanup at Chevron refinery oil spill site, city beaches continues after leak

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By | and | | Bay Area News GroupRICHMOND — Efforts continued Wednesday to clean up an oil spill at the Chevron refinery here that sent at least 100 gallons of petroleum product into San Francisco Bay waters on Tuesday evening.The spill was reported just after 3 p.m., according to county and company officials. A company statement issued just after 5 p.m. Tuesday said the leak had been stopped.Contra Costa County Supervisor John Gioia said on Tuesday night that the spill could have leaked as much as 600 gallons of “petroleum product.” As of 7:50 p.m. Wednesday, a state agency that estimate, estimating “approximately 12-18 barrels (500-750 gallons) of a low-sulfur diesel fuel and flush water mix was released.”Repair personnel said a pipeline near the refinery wharf was the apparent source of the leak, according to a social media statement from Chevron Richmond that was updated Wednesday.The refinery also said in a statement early Wednesday that response teams had deployed about 2,100 feet of containment boom around the site of the spill. Three oil skimmers ran through the night to recover oil that was in the water.Refinery personnel, along with the California Department of Fish and Wildlife’s Office of Spill Prevention and Response; Contra Costa Health Services; and the U.S. Coast Guard all were on site.Emails by this organization to the Department of Fish and Wildlife were not returned on Wednesday.The leak brought a public health advisory that was e-mailed to Richmond, North Richmond and San Pablo residents around 3:50 p.m. Tuesday.&nbsp;In the advisory, the spill from the refinery was described as having happened along the long wharf.County officials lifted the advisory shortly after 8:40 p.m.At the start, the refinery’s showed southerly winds around 5 mph for three sites around and near its fenceline.A Richmond Police Department spokesman said there were no reported road closures in the Point Richmond area, but that beaches and shorelines were closed due to the spill. Those beaches remained closed Wednesday morning.According to a filed at 3:25 p.m. with the state’s Office of Emergency Services, the refinery said about a hundred gallons of a mixture of recovered oil and gasoline began leaking shortly after 3:05 p.m., with no established specific cause.In statements Tuesday night, Gioia said the amount that leaked from a refinery standing pipe, gushing as much as 5 gallons per minute, could have reached 600 gallons. He noted that some petroleum appeared to have washed up on the city shoreline despite workers’ efforts to contain it.He added that he had spoken with state Assembly member Buffy Wicks, who indicated her interest in moving forward with legislation to strengthen fines and penalties for releases from refineries and industrial facilities.“It is unacceptable to have this happen in our community,” Gioia said. “It causes harm to people’s health. It causes harm to bird life, wildlife and marine life. I’ve seen it personally in prior spills. We expect industry to operate at the highest level with no room for error, because error causes harm to life. We coexist with industry in the area, which is why we have high regulatory standards. When you operate industry in an urban environment, there needs to be precautions to protect life.”In a statement, Audubon California Director of Bird Conservation Andrea Jones slammed the spill’s impact on bay waters.“Staff from our Center at Richardson Bay will keep an eye on the surrounding area for injured wildlife tomorrow and for the rest of the week, and report any findings to the Office of Oil Spill Prevention and Response,” Jones said in part Tuesday. “Any spill in San Francisco Bay underscores the many reasons California must continue to move away from fossil fuels and toward renewable forms of energy, for the health of wildlife, fisheries, and coastline communities.”In , East Bay Regional Parks staff said the spill left “an odorous sheen” off Miller/Knox Regional Park and Keller Beach, and closed park and shoreline access through at least noon Wednesday.According to the refinery’s Wednesday morning statement, no animals coated in oil have been reported. They asked the public to report any such sightings by calling the Oiled Wildlife Care Network at 1-877-823-6926.Check back for updates.Public Health Advisory for portions of Richmond, North Richmond and San Pablo(00) ()— Contra Costa CWS (@CoCoCWS)Our Hazardous Materials team is responding to a reported oil spill at a wharf near Chevron’s Richmond refinery. Stay out of the area if possible. Eye, skin, nose or throat irritation possible — if so go inside and rinse with water. Updates— Contra Costa Health Services (@CoCoHealth)There is currently a 5 gallon per min.leak of a petroleum product at the Chevron Richmond Long Wharf.Chevron&amp;Fire Agency on scene and in process of booming the leak. County HazMat in route. There is a Public Health Advisory In effect for Richmond, San Pablo and N. Richmond— John Gioia (@supejohngioia)— Dylan Bouscher (@DylanBouscher)OSPR crew enroute to reported spill in the vicinity of Chevron’s Richmond refinery. More info. to come.— CDFW Spill Prevention &amp; Response (@CalSpillWatch)Statement from Chevron Richmond:— Chevron Richmond (@ChevronRichmond)The petroleum leak at Richmond Chevron has been stopped. Our HazMat team is conducting air monitoring to assess potential community impacts. Avoid the area if possible. People with respiratory conditions should consider staying indoors as a precaution against strong odors.— Contra Costa Health Services (@CoCoHealth)The Park District will continue to monitor the situation.For up-to-date information on Park Status visit— East Bay Regional Parks (@EBRPD)An All Clear has been issued for the Chevron Refinery incident in Richmond, North Richmond and San Pablo.— Contra Costa County (@CCCounty)Unified Command has confirmed w/ lab analysis that est. 500-750 gallons of diesel/water mix was released during yesterday’s incident at Chevron Richmond refinery. Photo shows Keller Beach, where some sheen reached shore. No oiled wildlife observed. More @— CDFW Spill Prevention &amp; Response (@CalSpillWatch)Contact George Kelly at 408-859-5180.We invite you to use our commenting platform to engage in insightful conversations about issues in our community. We reserve the right at all times to remove any information or materials that are unlawful, threatening, abusive, libelous, defamatory, obscene, vulgar, pornographic, profane, indecent or otherwise objectionable to us, and to disclose any information necessary to satisfy the law, regulation, or government request. We might permanently block any user who abuses these conditions.Get Morning Report and other email newslettersFollow UsMost PopularClose

By | and | | Bay Area News GroupRICHMOND — Efforts continued Wednesday to clean up an oil spill at the Chevron refinery here that sent at least 100 gallons of petroleum product into San Francisco Bay waters on Tuesday evening.The spill was reported just after 3 p.m., according to county and company officials. A company statement issued just after 5 p.m. Tuesday said the leak had been stopped.Contra Costa County Supervisor John Gioia said on Tuesday night that the spill could have leaked as much as 600 gallons of “petroleum product.” As of 7:50 p.m. Wednesday, a state agency that estimate,...

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Richmond: Cleanup at Chevron refinery oil spill site, city beaches continues after leak

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