Editorial: The ball is in Chevron’s court concerning the Richmond refinery
MediaNews editorial
Posted: 08/20/2009 12:01:00 AM PDT
The Oakland Tribune
THE IMPASSE between Chevron and environmentalists over renovations at the Richmond refinery is indeed puzzling.
Environmental groups won a lawsuit challenging the oil company’s environmental impact report regarding the refinery’s ability and intent to process heavy crude oil, which would increase air pollution, after extensive retrofit work is completed.
Chevron says the changes to the refinery will result in less pollution and that it has no plans to refine heavy crude oil.
If that is the case, why won’t Chevron agree to a cap that would guarantee that the refinery would not start processing the heavy, dirtier crude?
Chevron’s answer is unsatisfactory. Spokesman Brent Tippen said the refinery’s work is already heavily regulated. That is true but beside the point.
Tippen added that the refinery lacks the equipment to refine heavier crude and permits already prevent Chevron from doing so.
The question remains: Why not agree to a crude cap?
Tippen responded that a crude cap barring the processing of heavy oil would not add to environmental protection.
A divided City Council sided with Chevron and approved the renovation project with a cap on the type of oil running through a solvent deasphalting unit.
However, environmentalists were not satisfied because there was no cap on a second stream of crude that enters the refinery and bypasses the solvent deasphalting
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unit.
Superior Court Judge Barbara Zuniga agreed that Chevron’s EIR was vague and inconsistent on whether heavier crude would be processed.
The deadlock over the refinery project is more than an esoteric debate over which type of crude is going to be processed. It has resulted in the stoppage of a major construction project that has put 1,000 people out of work in the middle of a recession.
If Chevron refuses to accept some kind of cap on heavy crude, perhaps one that would be reviewed at a later date, one has to wonder just what Chevron’s true intentions are.
The ball is in the oil company’s court. It’s past time for some clear answers that could lead to a quick settlement to a dispute that is costly to 1,000 workers, the city of Richmond and to Chevron itself.
