Chevron Refinery and Its Impact on Richmond, CA
By Iris Qiu
Born and raised in the neighborhood just a couple miles from the Chevron Refinery in Richmond, CA, Alfredo Angulo, a Mexican-American, is not a stranger to the flare-up.
“I could see the smoke from the kitchen window,” Angulo said.
When Angulo was a little child, asthma has been with them.
For Richmond residents, suffering from asthma is commonplace, especially for Black and Latinx people. Asthma, a chronic respiratory condition that inflames and narrows the airways, is a significant health concern nationwide. It would severely impact daily activities and overall quality of life, leading to episodes of breathing difficulty that can be acute and sometimes life-threatening.
In California, the prevalence of asthma is approximately 14%. However, in Richmond, CA, it approaches 25%, according to Richmond Environment and Asthma Community Health (REACH) Study conducted by UCSF.
In Contra Costa County, Richmond is one of the cities that has the highest number of emergency department visits for asthma per 10,000 people.
Richmond's asthma rate ranks high in the county.
Many residents in Richmond believe the high local asthma rates are linked to the nearby Chevron refinery, which is located near Point Richmond. They said that emissions from this large facility could be worsening air quality and health, notably increasing respiratory issues.
“I grew up with asthma, my younger sister grew up with asthma. The rest of my family that did not grow up in Richmond does not have asthma. And so I think it's pretty clear cut that the reason that we're suffering from these illnesses is because of our proximity. Growing up to this refinery in Richmond, we have among the highest rates of asthma in the country,” said Alfredo.
Opened in 2012, three years before the city was incorporated, the refinery was first known as The Standard Oil plant, which later became Chevron. By 1904, it became the world’s second largest oil refinery. It profoundly shaped Richmond’s economic, political, and social landscape at that time.
Spanning 2,900 acres, the refinery now handles approximately 240,000 barrels of crude oil daily, transforming it into key products such as motor gasoline, jet fuel, diesel fuel, and lubricants.
According to the California Governor's Office of Emergency Services, from 2011 to 2022, there were in total of 188 spills incidents caused by Chevron refinery in Richmond, CA.
Though it may seem like they make up a small portion of all the spills happened in the city in terms of the number of incidents as a statistic, Chevron has shown to be the place that has the most spills in the city.
The redder and larger the circle, the more often the spill occurs. Chevron located above the Point Richmond, which has the largest and reddest circle.
Some of these incidents have had a huge impact on the city as well as its residents
The 2012 Chevron Richmond Refinery fire remains a vivid memory for many residents of Richmond, CA, including Isabella Zizi, who lived in Richmond for 28 years and recently moved to Oakland.
At that time, she was outside with her family with no awareness and alert to what was happening. Though lived two miles away from the refinery, she was still able to see the high and large flames. The air was still filled with the ashes left by the fire after a week passed.
On August 6 in 2012, an explosion at the Chevron Richmond Refinery in Richmond, CA released a thick plume of black smoke that covered nearby residential areas. This event sent more than 15,000 people to the hospital.
“Even now, to this day, whenever I have been in Richmond or even passed by Richmond, I’m always looking at the direction of the refinery to make sure that I don’t see any flames,” Zizi said.
Not only did the events of 2012 leave a mark on history, but there are many more events that have similarly made a lasting impact.
When it comes to how to deal with the impacts, as the refinery has disproportionately affected nearby residents, who are predominantly from low-income, Black, and Hispanic or Latino communities, these residents are less likely to relocate far from the refinery.
That is because that the neighborhoods like East Richmond Heights located up the hill that offer respite from the pollution, have been lived by higher-income, predominantly white residents, with correspondingly high rent. Consequently, the burden of relocating to escape environmental hazards should not be placed on the affected residents, as the options available are not equitable.
“I don’t think the burden should be on me to move away from industry. I think industry should recognize that it is imperative of them to protect the communities that live around their production in Richmond,” said Angulo.
As Senate Bill 1000 requires every California city and county that contains a disadvantaged community to address environmental justice in their General Plan, the city of Richmond implemented it in the General Plan 2030 that was released in October 2022.
In the General Plan, it said that the city plans “to address the root causes of environmental justice such as by reducing residents’ exposure to pollutants and toxics, particularly for vulnerable segments of the population.”
However, in terms of addressing the impacts that Chevron has caused, the process won’t be easy and there is still a long way to go. Chevron remains the city’s top employer, providing nearly 3,500 jobs. The oil giant also invests heavily in local nonprofits, economic development projects, and city initiatives. In 2015, the city gave Chevron the green light to move forward with a massive modernization project in exchange for $90 million over 10 years to the community and $80 million to fund environmental projects.
These contributions, however, do not appear to outweigh the impact it has on public health and safety.
"I know that our school has a welding lab because of Chevron, and they funded everything that happens there. But that's one part that you're helping our school. We don't need your donations. We could do okay without it,” said Mitzi Pérez-Caro, a teacher at Kennedy High School.