For Immediate Release: August 7th, 2012

GLOBAL COMMUNITY MONITOR MEDIA ADVISORY

Contact: Denny Larson or Ruth Breech, Global Community Monitor: 510-233-1870

CHEVRON FIRE: Contra Costa Group testing fallout for residents

Chevron failed to install real time air monitor system like other Bay Area refineries

(El Cerrito, CA) A Contra Costa based organization is offering to test soot that may have fallen out from the Chevron refinery fire last night. The Global Community Monitor (GCM), which empowers community members to test toxics for themselves, is based in Contra Costa County and has worked in 27 countries and with 100 partner groups. 

“Last evening, many callers to radio talk shows and television stations complained of fallout and soot from the fire.  While the Bay Area Air Quality Management Air District and other agencies conducted some monitoring around the refinery, some extremely toxic compounds, such as polycyclic aromatic hydrocarbons or PAH’s, may not have been tested,” stated  Denny Larson, GCM Executive Director. “Therefore, GCM is offering its services to help five residents test soot from the fire for these toxic compounds.”

Residents who experienced visible fallout on their property that is suspected to have come from the Chevron fire should contact GCM @ info@gcmonitor.org or call 510-233-1870.

Testing for PAH’s is often done by collecting the soot material on a special wipe and stored in a sterile jar and kept on ice to preserve the compounds.  Samples are then shipped overnight in refrigerated containers.

GCM also pointed to the Chevron refinery’s failure to install a real time air monitoring system as promised in a tax agreement with the City of Richmond in 2010.  The agreement required Chevron to design a system and monitor the air in real time in three neighborhoods for “VOCs, metals, H2S, PAHs, and PM2.5.”  While Chevron has competed the design of the project, not a single monitoring system required by the agreement has been installed.  Valero refinery in Benicia and the Conoco Phillips refinery in Rodeo both have real time systems that report the data to the web for the public to see.

“It’s time for Chevron to stop stalling and install the monitors they promised,” said Larson.  “By the same token, the explosion and fire should reignite the City of Richmond to get this job done now.”