CoCo Supervisors Demand Better Emergency Communication After Refinery Fire
MARTINEZ (KCBS) -- Contra Costa County supervisors on Tuesday demanded that better emergency communication lines with county officials be made in the wake of the Chevron refinery fire in Richmond.
More than a week has passed since the refinery fire but Contra Costa supervisors are still fuming about being left out of the communication loop.
KCBS' Dave Padilla Reports:
Contra Costa Supervisor Federal Glover told County and Public Health and Hazardous Materials directors at a public meeting that he and other supervisors didn't receive any emergency information from the county after disaster struck at the refinery on Aug. 6.
"We need that information right away because we have a constituency that we need to be able to respond to in some manner," he said.
Glover mentioned a small fire at a Shell refinery in Martinez earlier this week and that, again, he was not informed.
"It was an incident that hit the media that I did not get any information on until I made those phone calls myself," he said.
"I don't want to have to make these comments again."
Supervisor Karen Mitchoff, who was out of the town during the fire, also expressed frustration even though the incident didn't happen in her district.
"We need to get that information no matter where it happens," she said.
She said she was also concerned that Richmond City Administrator David Twa was not notified.
Dr. Wendel Brunner, the county's public health director, said that the supervisors' concerns were "well taken."
Brunner also said that more 9,000 people sought medical attention as result of the fire at the crude oil processing unit.
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