Date

Monday, December 28, 2020

The Air District announced today that Chevron USA Inc. has agreed to pay $147,000 to settle violations at its refinery in Richmond. This settlement covers 29 Notices of Violation issued for air quality violations at the Richmond oil refinery during 2016 – 2018.

Spare the Air Status

"The Air District has the most stringent air quality regulations in the nation to safeguard public health and air quality in the region," said Jack Broadbent, executive officer of the Air District. "This settlement is part of an ongoing process to ensure that Chevron is held accountable and follows all state, local and federal permit conditions to protect the health of those in neighboring communities."

The violations addressed in this settlement include:

  • Several Notices of Violation for flaring in violation of the federal New Source Performance Standard
  • An odor nuisance Notice of Violation stemming from complaints in San Francisco that occurred after flaring at the refinery
  • An odor nuisance Notice of Violation stemming from complaints in the Richmond area related to restarting refinery operations after a power outage
  • A sulfur dioxide exceedance at a sulfur recovery operation
  • An excess of visible emissions at the fluid catalytic cracking unit

All the violations that led to this settlement have been corrected.

The Air District issues Notices of Violation when facilities violate a specific air quality regulation or rule. Violators are generally required to respond to the notice within ten days and submit a description of the actions they will take to correct the problem. These actions can include shutting down certain operations immediately or changing operations or equipment to come into compliance.

All settlement funds will be used to fund Air District activities such as the inspection and enforcement activities that led to this settlement.

View the press releaseLanguage Icon Globe.

Last Updated: 12/28/2020