Authorities Monitor Chevron Refinery Flaring Incident

CONTRA COSTA COUNTY, CA — Bay Area air quality officials and Contra Costa Hazardous Materials personnel responded to a flaring incident that created a huge cloud of dark smoke Tuesday afternoon at the Chevron oil refinery in Richmond and said there was no cause for public concern.

"Our team arrived on scene, conducted air monitoring in the community around & downwind of the refinery & determined there is no public health concern," Contra Costa County Public Health said in a statement. "The refinery reports the affected unit is stable. We requested a 72-hour report from the refinery to learn more."

The incident was first reported around 2:40 p.m. and was also being closely monitored by the Bay Area Air Quality Management District.

"Air District inspectors are on scene investigating and we are working to find the root cause of the smoke in addition to any potential air quality violations," the Air District.

No shelter-in-place orders were issued Tuesday for Crockett or Port Costa residents, although dark smoke may be visible in the area, the Crockett-Carquinez Fire Department said.

Chevron refinery officials reported the problem shortly before 3 p.m. to the Governor's Office of Emergency Services, saying some sort of upset at the refinery released an unknown amount of sulfur dioxide and caused smoke to come out of the flares.

The smoke could be seen from miles away and is the latest incident involving the Chevron refinery, which has already had multiple cases of flaring this year and also spilled several hundred gallons of oil at its long wharf in February.

Bay City News Service contributed to this report.