Built in 1902, the Chevron Richmond Refinery is one of the oldest and largest refineries operating in the US. To refine its capacity of 87.6 million barrels of crude oil per year, the refinery produces over 29 billion pounds of climate-poisoning, smog-forming and toxic air and water pollutants each year.

The EPA reported almost 300 pollutant spills from the Richmond refinery from 2001 to 2003 alone. These are highly toxic, often cancerous, chemicals. The EPA lists the refinery in “significant noncompliance” for air pollution standards and toxic flaring is a regular occurrence. Deadly accidents are a far too common occurrence, including massive explosions and fires. Richmond’s cancer and child-asthma rates exceed area, state and national averages.

Rather than clean-up its Richmond refinery, Chevron is seeking to expand its facilities so it can process heavier grades of contaminated crude oil that require more heat and pressure and result in more pollution. Chevron’s Environmental Impact Report fails to provide adequate information about all the oils to be refined and therefore the amount of pollution emission. It omits that the expansion would allow for pollution-intensive processing of oils that are higher in contaminants and may cause up to fifty times more pollution. The Report is fundamentally deficient and we are calling it to be revised and recirculated for public review.

Please sign the petition to demand Chevron to be more responsible and accountable to its neighbors and ask for the recirculation of the Environmental Impact Report.

• Mayor Aside, Richmond No Match for Chevron (San Francisco Chronicle: March 18, 2008)
• Activists Knock Chevron Upgrade (Contra Costa Times: March 6, 2008)
• Group Takes Chevron to Task over Richmond Refinery Plans (Contra Costa Times: March 5, 2008)
• Chevron Defends Refinery Upgrade (Bay City News Service: March 5, 2008)
• Richmond Facing Chevron Decision (Contra Costa Times: March 2, 2008)
• Time for Richmond to Stand Up to Chevron (San Francisco Chronicle: February 8, 2008)
• Exxon and Chevron Both See Profits Soar (Los Angeles Times: February 2, 2008)
• Chevron Posts Sharp Rise in 4Q Profits on Surging Oil Prices (San Francisco Chronicle: February 1, 2008)
• When Something's in the Air...Refinery neighbors damn well want to know about it. Not just some of them, and not just in English (East Bay Express: February 28-March 6, 2007)