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Many accidents occurred in the Richmond oil refinery between 1989 and the present, there were 3 massive fires that went mainstream in the media. There were hazardous working conditions for employees from crude oil. Throughout the time period, Chevron has noticeably bypassed many safety rules and emission regulations, regardless of their efforts. As Chevron continued with modernization, there was rapid growth of production of oil but with a history of negative externalities among marginalized communities. Even though Chevron promotes better air quality, their ignorance of coping with environmental issues tends to increase greenhouse gases, fire accidents, pollution, and air toxicity in favor of capitalism.
April 11th, 1989
April 11th, 1989
There was a pipe leak of pressurized hydrogen gas, leaving 7 injured employees. Black smoke spread across the SF Bay for a few days. There were many safety violations during this incident including employees not wearing protective clothing.
Because of this fire, Chevron's production capacity has been reduced by 25% and fines of $877,000 ($1,817,469 inflated in 2020) from 114 safety violations (Lee).
March 25th, 1999
The cause of the fire was unknown by Chevron officials, but there was some malfunction located in the "heat exchanger of the Isomax plant" (Benjamin).
Thousands of residents had to stay indoors due to sulfur compounds which reduced air quality in its proximity. There were more than 1,200 residents who showed up to emergency rooms, reporting breathing difficulties and eye irritations (Benjamin).
The lack of maintenance on refinery instruments has piled into fires that communities witnessed through the 1990s.
August 6, 2012
On August 6, 2012, a massive explosion broke out in the refinery, which was the largest fire since 1989. This was yet another case of a pipe not properly maintained and vulnerable to corrosion from sulfur and high temperatures of crude oil.
The fire created black smoke containing sulfuric acid and nitrogen dioxide which is detrimental to human lungs and linked to cancer (SFGATE). Although many questions arise about the unhealthy workplace of employees, fire outbreaks have been an ongoing phenomenon in the refinery.
Environmentalists criticized Chevron’s dangerous practices of oil, suggesting better management of their leaky pipes and more sustainable decisions (Derbeken).
Environmental Impacts
Environmental Impacts
The Richmond refinery alarms the importance of air quality in nearby communities. Since the refinery was built, Point Richmond has been more exposed to greenhouse gas emissions than any area of Richmond. The 2012 fire has been a climatic point in the refinery's history of fires; thousands of residents were reported in emergency rooms within the first 4 weeks. According to an Environmental Health research on Richmond hospitals during the 2012 fire, patients suffered mostly from respiratory problems, eye irrigation, and other sensory system conditions from the smoke (Remy et at.). Their data analysis claims that the increased number of hospital visits from lung diseases were statistically significant (Remy et at.). The 2012 fire incident has enlarged environmental issues that were already present into a larger scale of individuals.
Figure 1: "Bay Emergency Department visits during the 2012 study period" (Remy et at.)
Figure 2: "Patients (N) with affected body systems by day, week before and after 2012 CRI" (Remy et at.)
Sources
Derbeken, Jaxon Van. "Chevron Says Pipe Low on Key Protectant." SFGATE, San Francisco Chronicle, 24 Sept. 2012, https://www.sfgate.com/bayarea/article/Chevron-says-pipe-low-on-key-protectant-3890861.php.
Lee, Patrick. "Chevron Fined $877,000 for Refinery Fire". Los Angeles Times, 27 Sept. 1989, www.latimes.com/archives/la-xpm-1989-09-27-fi-266-story.html.
Pimentel, Benjamin, et al. "Huge Explosion Rocks Richmond Oil Refinery / Thousands Ordered Indoors -- 3 Hurt Responding to Blast." SFGATE, San Francisco Chronicle, 26 Mar. 1999, www.sfgate.com/bayarea/article/Huge-Explosion-Rocks-Richmond-Oil-Refinery-2939736.php.
Remy, L.L., Clay, T., Byers, V. et al. "Hospital, health, and community burden after oil refinery fires, Richmond, California 2007 and 2012". Environ Health 18, 48 (2019). https://doi.org/10.1186/s12940-019-0484-4.
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