Richmond Chevron refinery notifies city of new flaring incident
The city of Richmond sent out a message on Nixle shortly before noon, saying the Chevron refinery has notified the city "of a CWS Level 1 incident due to visible flaring at the refinery."
The city said Chevron was investigating the cause and there was no public health risk at the time. It said no action is required by the community and the Richmond Fire Department Hazmat Team is monitoring the situation.
The facility has seen an increased number of flaring incidents in recent months, including flaring that took place on New Year's Eve that led to complaints from the public and an investigation by the Bay Area Air Quality Management District.
Inspectors also issued a public nuisance notice of violation to the refinery following a number of air quality odor complaints from people detecting a heavy petroleum or burnt tires odor.
Officials issued four notices of violation to Chevron connected to a flaring episode at its Richmond refinery in November. Three of the violations were for visible emissions and one was for a public nuisance violation.