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| Officials Acknowledge Community Warning
System: System Failed to Function Properly January 16, 2007 |
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In one respect, we were very fortunate during the fire at Chevron yesterday morning. The wind was blowing from the east – the only direction resulting in smoke blowing away from homes in Richmond and West Contra Costa County. However, as typical for past incidents, the Community Awareness and Emergency Response (CAER) Community Warning System (CWS) once again failed us in several ways, including unacceptable delays in information and the quality of information provided.
According to Chevron, the fire occurred at approximately 5:15 AM. I was awakened not by the Community Warning System sirens but by Chevron’s internal sirens at approximately 5:15 AM. When I looked out my window, the fire was fully involved, so it must have started earlier. According to Contra Costa County sources, the County was notified at 5:26 AM, some 11 minutes after Chevron acknowledges the fire started, but probably more. Again, according the Contra Costa County, the sires were sounded at 5:32 AM, at least 17 minutes after the fire started.
It is clear that sirens are not heard by many people sleeping in their homes, particularly in the winter when windows may be closed. For that reason, the Community Warning System “… also has a phone ringdown system that would automatically begin calling homes and businesses in the impacted area with pre-recorded instructions about what to do. Even unlisted numbers will receive this call in the impacted areas” (see http://www.cococaer.org/prepare_sip1.html), According to the County, the phone calls were not activated until about 6:30 AM, at least 1 hour and 15 minutes after the fire started. According to the July 26, 2006 Minutes of the CAER Emergency Notification Committee Meeting, “July 26, 2006, There are now more cell phone then land lines and there is no required database such as there is for the 9-1-1 land line database. Voice Over IP (VOIP) providers keep a database, but this database is confidential.” So much for the first bullet point in the mission of CAER's Community Warning System (CWS), which states: “Immediately alert adjacent residents (one mile radius) to Shelter-in-Place in response to an emergency that may be harmful to their well being” (See http://www.cococaer.org/prepare.html). The way the system is designed, Contra Costa County notifies only two media outlets, KCBS (AM 740) and Bay City News Service. According to the County, KCBS was notified around 5:40 AM, at least 25 minutes after the fire stated, and I can attest that KCBS was broadcasting emergency alerts at about that time. Also, according to the County, Bay City News was contacted at 5:45, which would be one half hour after the fire started. This delay is a real problem, because all Bay Area television stations were broadcasting coverage, including video, of the incident for at least 30 to 45 minutes without any reliable information. What the public was getting during this time was speculation and erroneous information. So much for the third bullet point in the mission of CAER's Community Warning System (CWS), which states: “Provide on-going updates about the incident and additional protective measures that may be required” (see http://www.cococaer.org/prepare_sip1.html). But let’s not get so involved in critiquing the Community Awareness and Emergency Response (CAER) Community Warning System (CWS) that we forget the root cause of all this anguish, which is that we share our city with a large and dangerous industry that is almost certain to blow up every year or so. It is time that Chevron compensate the residents of Richmond as well as the other businesses that also share this city for the gross inconvenience and economic damage that results from hours of virtual house arrest when these incidents occur. The Community Warning System is not the problem, it is just an imperfect way of trying to mitigate the real problem. What is the Community Awareness and Emergency Response (CAER) Community Warning System (CWS), and who is responsible for it? To find out, I went to www.cococare.org, where the following information can be found: Site Index
About Us
Action Teams
Events
Prepare for Emergencies/Shelter-in-Place Information
Resources
Members
Kids' Corner I found that the Contra Costa County Community Awareness and Emergency Response (CAER) Group, Inc. “is a non-profit public benefit corporation of public emergency response agencies, local government officials and facilities and businesses that use, store, handle, produce or transport hazardous materials.” It has a board of directors (not updated since 2005) that includes the following: · Community representatives: Bob Campbell, Paul Craig, Peggy Marshburn and Ruth Vasquez-Jones. · Agency representatives: Randy Sawyer, Chief Keith Richter and Captain Kevin Ryan · Industry representatives: Ric Bonner, Rod Campbell, John Driscoll, Pete Jurichko, Danae Lui, Dean O’Hair and Tony Paul · At-Large representative: Dave Peck CAER has 30 members (2006) that include both industries and public agencies. Although several cities are members, Richmond is not. The Contra Costa County connection to CAER and CWS is described in the Contra Costa Health Services HAZARDOUS MATERIALS INCIDENT NOTIFICATION POLICY, which includes the following:
C. Community Warning System
The CalARP Program requires facilities to determine the potential off-site consequences from accidental releases of a CalARP Program regulated substance. This information has been used in developing emergency response plans for such potential releases. This information has also been used to design the Community Warning System (CWS). The CWS is a computer-integrated alerting and notification system that incorporates safety sirens, emergency responder pagers, Emergency Digital Information System (EDIS), the Emergency Alerting System (EAS), the California Law Enforcement Radio System (“CLERS”), and a telephone emergency notification system (TENS). EDIS, EAS, and CLERS are different ways of getting messages to emergency responders, including law enforcement, the media, and the National Weather Service (which transmits information to NOAA Weather Radios). The TENS calls households and businesses and transmits short messages about the incident and recommended protective actions.
The CWS was developed through the efforts of the Contra Costa County Community Awareness and Emergency Response (“CAER”) Group working cooperatively with CCHS, representatives from local industry, the community, and other regulatory agencies to provide local residents with timely notification of emergencies, including hazardous materials releases. The success of the CWS is dependent upon industry’s prompt notification to CCHS. CCHS would like the public to be assured that the CWS will be activated in a timely manner to implement preventive measures, such as sheltering-in-place. The CWS may also be activated to allay community concerns when a visible incident occurs, such as an explosion that does not pose a health hazard. (In order to expedite notification, some facilities have CWS terminals on-site and may activate the CWS directly using pre-defined protocols and procedures.)
Following are excerpts from various media and Media sources:
Chevron press releases:
Emergency Crews Respond to Fire in Richmond, California RICHMOND, Calif., Jan. 15 /PRNewswire/ -- Chevron Richmond Refinery emergency response personnel are responding to a fire which occurred at approximately 5:15 a.m. PT today. Chevron has contacted the appropriate local emergency response organizations, including the Refinery's own fire department, which has responded to the incident. One minor injury has been reported at this time, and there have been no serious injuries. Information concerning the extent of the incident and the amount of damage will be made public as it becomes available. Dean O'Hair, Chevron Richmond Refinery External Affairs Manager, said, "We are responding as part of a comprehensive plan to protect our employees and the community." The cause of the incident has not been determined.
SOURCE Chevron
Update: Richmond Refinery Fire
RICHMOND, Calif., Jan 15, 2007 /PRNewswire via COMTEX News Network/ -- Chevron (NYSE: CVX) Richmond Refinery officials report that a fire within the crude separating unit has been contained and Contra Costa Health Services at 8:40 a.m. PST lifted their shelter-in-place for local residents. The fire occurred at approximately 5:15 a.m. PST and was responded to by Chevron's own fire department and local emergency services. The fire was contained at 7:50 a.m. PST and is now being allowed to extinguish itself. One employee sustained minor burns and has been treated and released from hospital. The employee has since returned to work. The cause of the incident is under investigation. Dean O'Hair, Chevron Richmond Refinery External Affairs Manager said, "We don't expect this event to affect the current production plan at the refinery, since the crude unit was at the beginning of a planned maintenance cycle, however at this time we don't know the full extent of the damage. We would also like to acknowledge the support we received from other emergency responders who helped us with this incident." SOURCE Chevron Corporation Richmond Refinery Public Affairs, +1-510-242-4507 http://www.chevron.com/ Update: Fire Extinguished at Richmond Refinery RICHMOND, Calif., Jan. 15 /PRNewswire-FirstCall/ -- Chevron issued the following statement: * Chevron Richmond Refinery officials report that a fire at its crude unit was extinguished at 2:10 p.m. PST. Chevron firefighters will continue to monitor the area overnight. * Chevron sampled the air throughout the community during the incident, and initial indications are that there was no adverse air quality impacts associated with the fire. * The cause of the incident is under investigation. SOURCE Chevron Corporation CONTACT: Richmond Refinery Public Affairs, +1-510-242-4507, for Chevron
Contra Costa County:
For Release January 15, 2007 Contact: Randy Sawyer, 925-250-7905
Kate
Fowlie Breaking NewsFire At Chevron Richmond Refinery-"All Clear"An All Clear was declared at 8:39 a.m. by Contra Costa Health Services for the Chevron refinery fire in Richmond. The shelter-in-place is over. People who have been sheltering-in-place should open up their windows and doors to let in fresh air. The county was notified of the fire at 5:26 a.m. and the first Community Warning System siren sounded a shelter-in-place at 5:32 a.m. for the area from the North end at Tewskbury Avenue south to Pelican Drive and from Canal Blvd to Ocean West. Starting at about 6:30 a.m., the sirens continued to sound every 30 minutes until the All Clear was issued. The fire started after a pump seal failed in the refinery crude unit, creating a large plume of smoke. All smoke is considered harmful to health due to either chemicals or particles. The fire has been put out and is no longer a threat. One employee was injured in the fire and taken to the hospital and treated and released. There were no other reports of serious injuries from the incident. Hazardous Materials Specialists took air samples in the impacted areas to determine what chemicals were released as a result of the fire. The results of the air sample tests will be available in two to three days. Chevron will be required to submit a report on the incident within 72 hours. The report is required by Contra Costa County's Hazardous Materials Incident Notification Policy and will be filed with Contra Costa Health Services' Hazardous Materials Division. The report will be posted on the Contra Costa Health Services website: www.cchealth.org Press Release: Shelter-in-Place order issued in Richmond after Chevron Refinery Fire Links· http://www.cchealth.org/services/ombudsman/hazmat/emergency_response.php · http://www.cococaer.org/prepare_sip1.html HAZMAT SPILL- SHELTER-IN-PLACE
Voice Announcement Text
This is an emergency message from the Contra Costa County Health Services Department. There is a chemical accident emergency in your area. Please shelter-in-place. This means residents should get inside immediately. Bring pets inside if it can be done quickly. Close and lock all doors and windows. Turnoff all heaters, air conditioners and fans. Close or cover any vents to outside air. If not using the fireplace close the damper. Cracks around doors and windows can be sealed with tape or damp towels. Tune your radio to KCBS 740 AM for further information and instruction. Stay off your phone. Do not call 911 unless you have a life threatening emergency. Again the radio station to listen to for more information is 740 AM. This has been an emergency message from the Contra Costa County Health Services Department.
Below is additional information for the timeline. The information is some of the actions taken by the County's Hazardous Materials Response Team during the first hour of the response, specifically Steve Morioka.
Here's my time-line from this morning... 0533hrs - Received CWS-3 page from Chevron Refinery. 0541hrs - WB I580, observed orange glow and smoke plume from Chevron Refinery. Wind out of east/northeast. Plume appears to be traveling in a southwest direction. 0546hrs - Pt. Richmond, no odors @ western end of Tewksbury & western end of Golden Gate Av. Plume is west of residential Pt. Richmond. 0557hrs - Western Dr north of I580, plume observed overhead approximately 1/2 mile off WB I580. At this time, the plume is northwest of residential Pt. Richmond & may be impacting toll booths. Odors detected - described as oily smoke... no significant sulfur compounds (SO2, H2S) detected. 0559hrs - Contacted Eric Jonsson who is arriving in Pt Richmond. Jonsson to takeover downwind monitoring. 0604hrs - Chevron Refinery Main Gate (Chevron Way), arrive & asked by security to wait outside the gate until someone can be located who can assist me. 0625hrs - Return to Main Gate and speak with Chevron employee who will locate Chevron agency rep. 0638hrs - Met by Chevron Rep (Sil) who takes me to Marc Evans & Walt Gill who update situation. Beginning planned maintenance at Crude Unit 4 ("DNR") and lost pump seal. Resulted in hydrocarbon release and fire of diesel-range materials. Isolating pump at this time. Fire continues to burn. Chevron monitoring in community - no significant observations.
Contra Costa Times:
Posted on Mon, Jan. 15, 2007
Warning system delayed in Richmond refinery fire RICHMOND - A 100-foot flame erupted from a crude fuel unit at the Chevron refinery this morning, injuring one worker and prompting a shelter-in-place order for nearby neighborhoods. The incident touched off Contra Costa County's most serious level of community warning for industrial accidents. The shelter-in-place order was lifted at 8:39 a.m., and no off-site injuries were reported. County hazardous materials crews took air samples in nearby Point Richmond and will later test them to find what toxins, if any, they contain. "It is under control. It's just residual fuel that's burning in the pipe. It does not appear to be impacting the community at this point," said Randy Sawyer, director for hazardous materials programs at Contra Costa County Health Services. The fire, reported by Chevron officials at 5:26 a.m., immediately prompted use of emergency sirens in the region. The incident rated "Level 3" in the county's emergency warning system, its highest alert for industrial incidents. The county typically follows up by activating an automated phone-dialing system that calls residents in affected areas with information and instructions. But despite the high alert, it took the county's automated telephone-dialer more than an hour to begin calling residents near the refinery. "I got my first automatic call at 6:38 a.m.," said City Councilman Tom Butt, who lives in Point Richmond. "This community warning system has been a joke from the beginning. The media is not being notified. This happens every time there's an incident. It's really bad." The blaze started when a pump seal failed on a crude unit, where crude oil is distilled and sent to different parts of the refinery. The cause of the blaze remains under investigation. "Chevron has contacted the appropriate local emergency response organizations, including the refinery's own fire department, which has responded to the incident," according to an unsigned statement on the corporation's web site. "It was going fairly strong for a while, but it's now essentially a controlled flame," Richmond Fire Chief Michael Banks said about 8 a.m. "It was in a crude unit, somehow the fire lit off. I'm not sure exactly how it happened at this point." One worker went to the hospital with burns on his upper body. He was treated and released, according to the Chevron press statement. Richmond sent four engines to assist company firefighters. Fire companies from other local refineries also sent equipment and firefighters. The blaze came under control about 7:30 a.m., Banks said. Crews will allow residual fuel in the unit to burn itself out, a process that will take several hours. The shelter-in-place order affected Point Richmond, a neighborhood immediately south of the refinery. Emergency crews were aided by a gentle wind that took most of the smoke from the fire out into the Bay. "We did smell some stuff. There was definitely some off-site impact, but we're not sure at this point how serious it was," Sawyer said. "We did take some air samples and we will test them." Toll operators from the Richmond-San Rafael Bridge were cleared from booths around 6:30 a.m., leaving the toll gates open. The operators returned to work about 9 a.m. "The main concern here would be smoke" which could contain sulfur dioxide, county hazardous materials specialist Eric Johnsson said about 8 a.m. "If exposed to any mucus membranes, eyes, nose, thoat, it can be irritating." County Supervisor John Gioia, whose district includes Richmond, said after the incident that he had concerns about the timeliness of public notification. Gioia said Contra Costa Health Services became aware of the fire at 5:26 a.m., 11 minutes after Chevron said it began. Sirens began sounding at 5:32 a.m., and Gioia said KCBS-740 radio and the Bay City News Service, were notified at 5:40 a.m., as per county emergency protocol. The Contra Costa Sheriff's Office, which runs the county's Telephonic Emergency Notification System (TENS), told the vendor that owns the dialer to start calling households in and around Point Richmond at 6:02 a.m. But the first calls started at 6:32 a.m., Gioia said. "One question is, was the half hour ... it took a reasonable amount of time (for county officials) to determine where things were going?" Gioia said. "Then there clearly was a delay from when the county sheriff's office issued the order to begin dialing, and when (the vendor) started." Tony Semenza, director of the nonprofit Contra Costa County Community Awareness and Emergency Response, said the emergency response to the fire seemed appropriate, but investigation would be needed to ensure the refinery and public officials worked as efficiently as possible. "The sirens went off early in the incident, signalling the shelter in place. The complaints (Butt) made were about people not getting the phone calls," said Semenza, whose group provides public education and communication between local industry and the community. Semenza said the TENS system would not immediately activate in any case because county emergency officials would need time to evaluate the situation in detail, perhaps in person, to decide the best course and, if the phone system is needed, which neighborhoods should be called. Gioia said part of the hold-up could have involved some difficulty determining wind direction at the plant. "Here's where it gets weird," Butt said. "The community warning system is supposed to warn broadcast media. They didn't do it, and so there was a period of 30 to 40 minutes when all the TV stations were covering it and there were people calling in with erroneous information. It was a joke." Both Gioia and Semenza repudiated Butt's public comments. "There's a case of a councilman who doesn't really have all the information, and is providing misinformation to the public," Semenza said. "The sirens went off. In order to get the rest of our tools activated, we need a little time to get the information."
San Francisco Chronicle:
RICHMOND
Authorities are investigating a series of delays and an apparent software glitch that caused a lag of more than an hour between the time a fire broke out at the Chevron refinery on Monday and the time residents began receiving automated phone calls instructing them to stay indoors. The automated calls, which go out to homes and businesses near the refinery, are a key part of Contra Costa County's efforts to notify residents about refinery fires that can affect the air quality. The fire started around 5:15 a.m. when the seal on a pump in the facility's crude oil unit failed, sending a large plume of black smoke into the air. Firefighters extinguished the blaze by 2:10 p.m. The relatively small fire caused one minor injury, and winds from the northeast drove most of the smoke over the bay instead of over populated areas. The first sirens sounded at 5:32 a.m., but the delay in the automated phone calls -- which did not start until 6:30 a.m. -- left many people in Richmond and West Contra Costa County upset. The automated phone calls, which tell people what happened and what action to take in order to stay safe, are supposed to begin shortly after the first sirens sound. County officials blame the first half of the delay on Chevron and the second on a software glitch by Dialogic Communications Corp., the company that oversees the automated phone service. Chevron spokeswoman Camille Priselac disagreed, saying the company notified the county about the fire at 5:23 a.m. with "all the information needed to alert the community." But county officials said they did not receive sufficient information from Chevron until 5:57 a.m. about the scope of the fire, direction of the smoke and area where the telephone emergency notification system should be activated. At 6:09 a.m., the sheriff's department submitted the activation request to Dialogic. The department re-submitted the request 10 minutes later, after the first request failed. "We received an error notice and tried again," said sheriff's spokesman Jimmy Lee. Dialogic fixed the glitch and the calls began going out 10 minutes later, Lee said. The company could not be reached for comment. "We are fortunate that this wasn't worse," Lee said. "You can bet that we are going to take a very close look at this. The system wasn't perfect, but it did its job." Refinery officials declined to say whether any equipment was destroyed by the fire but said further investigation is needed to determine how much damage the fire caused. It was not clear whether the fire will have any effect on gas prices, analysts said. The markets were closed Monday because of the Martin Luther King Jr. holiday. The area of the refinery that caught fire, the crude-oil separation unit, was shut down for planned annual maintenance, and Chevron had replacement gasoline supplies lined up, Priselac said. Both Richmond and Contra Costa County elected officials were angry about the delays and frustrated that the system did not perform better after years of work on refinery safety. Both agencies will be conducting investigations into the fire. Chevron is expected to release a preliminary report to the county Thursday. "The community warning system is a joke," said Richmond Councilman Tom Butt. "We have huge, unresolved problems with this system." Butt, who lives within the shelter area, said he heard the siren warning system go off but did not receive a call until 6:38 a.m. advising him of the order to stay inside. Contra Costa County Supervisor John Gioia, who lives just outside the affected area, said the Sheriff's Department didn't tell Dialogic Communications Corp. to call residents until 6:02 a.m., and the company didn't begin making the calls until 6:30 a.m. "We need to look at both issues: What was the response ... and what caused this fire?" Gioia said. "Any fire at Chevron poses a great public health risk. ... I don't want to let them off the hook" because of the problems with Dialogic. Dialogic's contract expired Dec. 31 but still provides service until a new contract is negotiated, Gioia added. The county is reviewing proposals from other companies to oversee the automated phone system as well as considering renewal of Dialogic. "This obviously is something we will think about when we look at their contract," Gioia said. Several Point Richmond residents said they were angry at the delay and the lack of information about the fire, which was visible from many homes. "I don't think they've ever got it right," said Kent Kitchingman, 59, as he walked his dog, Wiley, in Point Richmond later in the morning. "I use my eyes and nose to protect me, and the emergency system is a big piece of crap." Another resident, Rebecca Beal, said she heard the sirens at about 5:30 a.m., opened her window and heard a woman's voice on a loudspeaker in the distance advising residents to shelter in place. Even though she did not receive an automated telephone notification until 7:03 a.m., she wasn't angry. "My feeling is that living in Richmond, if the sirens go off, you shelter in place," Beal said. "I know some people are angry. But I thought the system worked well." Chronicle staff writer David Baker contributed to this report. E-mail the writers at mlagos@sfchronicle.com, hlee@sfchronicle.com and jzamora@sfchonicle.com. Page B - 1
Officials blame glitches in refinery's alert system
(01-15) 15:51 PST RICHMOND -- Contra Costa County officials are blaming glitches in the emergency alert system for a delay of more than an hour between the time a fire broke out at the Chevron refinery this morning and the time residents began receiving automated phone calls instructing them to stay indoors. Officials say they suspect the sheriff's department may have waited as long as 30 minutes to notify the company hired to make the calls, Dialogic Communications Corp. Then, Dialogic's software system apparently failed to immediately recognize the sheriff's department as a client, delaying the calls another half hour. The fire started around 5:15 a.m. Sirens sounded at 5:32 a.m. and calls began going out about 6:30 a.m. Dialogic officials could not be reached for comment today. Contra Costa County Supervisor John Gioia, who lives just outside the affected area, said the Sheriff's Department didn't tell Dialogic Communications Corp. to call residents until 6:02 a.m., and the company didn't begin making the calls until 6:30 a.m. "We did have a technical problem with the vendor," sheriff's spokesman Jimmy Lee said. "All the other components of the emergency alert system worked fine. But we had an issue with the system here (with the phones) and we're going to take a close look at that." Local officials said that even though the fire was relatively small, the glitches in the notification system raise troubling concerns. "We need to look at both issues -- what was the response ... and what caused this fire?" Gioia said. "Any fire at Chevron poses a great public health risk." The fire broke out at about 5:15 a.m. after the seal on a pump in the facility's crude oil unit failed, sending a plume of smoke into the sky. The resulting fire slightly injured one employee, who has since been released from the hospital, company officials said. County health officials said Monday afternoon that they had received no reports of any serious injuries. Gioia said the county was notified of the fire at 5:26 a.m., 11 minutes after Chevron says it began. The county gave residents their first "shelter-in-place" order, via sirens, at 5:32 a.m., he said. "That seems reasonable, six minutes," he said, adding that it usually takes a few minutes to determine which direction the wind is blowing, and therefore which neighborhoods are being affected. Many residents who heard the sirens said they got their first details from the media. KCBS radio, which is part of the emergency network, was notified the same time as the county and ran continual updates through the morning. But many residents said they didn't receive a phone call until 6:30 a.m. or later. Gioia called Dialogic's lag time "unacceptable" but said the county needs to evaluate whether the first 30-minute delay was also a mistake. "It does take time to evaluate what areas being impacted -- we don't want to make calls to the areas that are not impacted ... but it's still important to look at the first 30 minutes and determine whether or not 30 minutes was too long," he said. "I would say having the phone calls occur one hour after notification was too long." "That's ridiculous, if you're being exposed to it for an hour," said Kent Kitchingman, 59, as he walked his dog, Wiley, in Point Richmond later in the morning. "I don't think they've ever got it right," Kitchingman, a 12-year area resident, said of previous incidents at local refineries. "I use my eyes and nose to protect me, and the emergency system is a big piece of crap." Another Point Richmond resident, Rick Pasterchik, 67, said he tried to call 911 but couldn't get through. He, too, heard sirens, but said, "We don't know what it is." The 6:30 a.m. phone call simply told him to stay indoors and didn't provide specifics about what happened at the refinery, he said. Pasterchik, whose home overlooks the refinery at 841 Chevron Way, said Chevron officials have provided information quickly in previous incidents. "I can't complain about them as a neighbor," Pasterchik said. Another resident, Rebecca Beal, said she heard the sirens at about 5:30 a.m., opened her window and heard a woman's voice on a loudspeaker in the distance advising residents to shelter in place. Even though she did not receive an automated telephone notification until 7:03 a.m., she wasn't angry. "My feeling is that living in Richmond, if the sirens go off, you shelter in place," Beal said. "I know some people are angry. But I thought the system worked well." Richmond Councilman Tom Butt, however, called the community warning system "a joke." Butt, who lives within the shelter area, said he heard the siren warning system go off but did not receive a call until 6:38 a.m. advising him of the order to stay inside. At issue are "huge public safety consequences," Butt said. His biggest concern, he said, is people ignoring the sirens. "Unless they can smell it or feel it, they don't believe it," he said, adding that residents in his neighborhood appeared to be going about their business as usual during the shelter-in-place order. "We have huge, unresolved problems with this system." Even after it was contained, the fire continued to burn this afternoon, as firefighters waited for residual chemicals -- most likely those included in diesel -- to burn off, said Randy Sawyer, director of Contra Costa County's Hazardous Materials Programs. Chevron spokeswoman Camille Priselac said firefighters had determined it would be best to let the chemicals burn off slowly. Officials did not know how long the process would take. Priselac said the fire did not endanger the community, and did not affect production at the rest of the facility. A Chevron contractor who asked not to be named said that many employees and contractors were not notified about the fire before coming to work. "We are supposed to have a phone tree to warn each other of an emergency," the contractor said. The system did not work at all." The county, which should receive an incident report from Chevron within 72 hours, will release the results of air sample tests from the impacted area in two to three days, officials said. Local law dictates that the county Health Department oversee the official investigation into the incident, Gioia said, but the county Board of Supervisors and Richmond City Council most likely will conduct probes into the fire as well. Dialogic's contract with the county will soon be up, Gioia added, and the board will be issuing a request for proposals from vendors. Although the refinery is California's third-largest, analysts said today that the fire probably wouldn't cause a spike in the state's gasoline prices -- at least not at first. The part of the refinery that caught fire, the crude-oil separation unit, had already been shut down for planned annual maintenance. Chevron already had replacement gasoline supplies lined up, Priselac said. In addition, California's other refineries have been cranking out about 5 percent more gasoline than they did last January, with inventories about 8 percent higher than they were at this time last year, according to state statistics. Wholesale gasoline markets were closed today for the Martin Luther King Jr. holiday, preventing the kind of panic-buying that often follows a refinery accident. Denton Cinquegrana, West Coast markets editor with the Oil Price Information Service, said traders on Tuesday would be waiting to see how much gasoline Chevron buys on the spot market, where companies purchase short-term supplies. If the company buys a lot, that could indicate that the Richmond refinery will be closed longer than expected. A long closure could, in turn, push up the gasoline prices that California drivers face at the pump. "You're going to have, for lack of a better term, sharks circling in the water to see what Chevron's going to do in the market," Cinquegrana said. Priselac today said it was too soon to know the extent of the damage or the timetable of repairs. "As soon as it's safe to do so, we'll get in there and start our investigation with all the state and local officials," she said. "But we've just got to wait until that happens." On Dec. 29, there was a small, half-hour long fire in a process pump at Chevron's refinery in El Segundo. But that fire did not stop production, the company reported at the time. It's not the first time in recent years that a fire has broken out at the Richmond refinery, but the last blaze, in 2005, did not require a "shelter-in-place" order. The prevailing winds from the northeast carried most of the smoke and pollution out over the bay, where it dispersed more quickly, according to Karen Schkolnick of the Bay Area Air Quality Management District. "It is a very regrettable incident," she said. "But it is certainly the best-case scenario for the pollution to move away from population center." On Monday, Emergency officials did not ask the California Highway Patrol to close any roads, said CHP Officer Kevin Kroncke . The Coast Guard set up a 500-yard perimeter in the water around the Chevron plant to monitor any chemical spillage, said Petty Officer Jonathan R. Cilley. Chronicle staff writer David Baker contributed to this report. |
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