Report: State Inspections of Oil Refineries Have Fallen Short For Last Decade

State government safety inspections of California's oil refineries — including the Chevron facility in Richmond — have fallen short of federal standards, according to a San Francisco Chronicle article published Friday.

The article cites "recently released federal audit of the state's Division of Occupational Safety and Health, which is charged with enforcing state and federal workplace-safety rules at California refineries."

The audit concluded that Cal-OSHA had "very few, if any" comprehensive inspections of oil and chemical plants under its authority, according to the article.

"The limited checks that California inspectors have performed over the last decade have not led to a single fine collected from a major oil company, according to inspection records," the Chronicle reported.

The audit had been completed shortly before the at the Chevron refinery in Richmond, according to the article.