On Friday, the Bay Area Air Quality Management District said inspectors responded to 12 air quality complaints related to odors from Chevron in Richmond.
The Air District’s investigation is ongoing and inspectors will be patrolling the area through the weekend Bay Area Air Quality Management District (Air District) staff responded to a number of air quality odor complaints received by the Air District detecting a heavy petroleum/ burnt tires odors in the Point Richmond Area. The wind direction was primarily from the north with speeds ranging from 2-9 miles per hour. Air District Inspection Staff traced the ongoing odors to the Chevron Bioreactor located at the Chevron Refinery.
At 12:00 pm, Air District staff visited Chevron and conducted an odor investigation. During the investigation, Air District staff spoke with the Chevron Fire Department investigator who stated that the odor had been traced to Chevron’s Bioreactor (Circled in Red on image to right). Air District staff inspected the Bioreactor and detected the same burnt tire odor detected at the complainants’ locations both at the inlet and downwind of the source. No odors upwind of the source.
At 3:00 pm, Air District Staff met with Chevron staff to discuss the odors from the Bioreactor. Chevron staff stated that they experienced an upset at their bioreactor.
At 3:26 pm, Chevron reported a Level 1 notification via the Community Warning System (CWS). In the CWS notification, Chevron stated that Chevron Richmond refinery had “received 3 confirmed external odor complaints in a one-hour period starting on 12/08/2023. We investigated and have confirmed odors are from the Richmond refinery. The odor source is ongoing.”
Air District staff issued a notice of violation (NOV) #A56289 to Chevron Refinery for violation Air District Rule 1-301, Public Nuisance, for odors confirmed to the facility. For more information on the issued NOV, please click the link to the NOV web tool.
Odors are still present in the community, and Air District inspection staff continue to patrol the Point Richmond Area throughout the weekend. To date, the Air District has received 12 air quality complaints as a result of the odors from Chevron.
The investigation is still ongoing, and more violations may be issued.
