Lawsuit: Valero, Import Company Polluted Strait, Port Of Benicia

By Katy St. Clair, Bay City News Foundation

BENICIA, CA — San Francisco Baykeeper, the non-profit environmental watchdog organization, filed a lawsuit in federal court this week against auto processor Amports, the Benicia Port Terminal Company and oil giant Valero for allegedly discharging petroleum coke into the Carquinez Strait and the Port of Benicia.

The suit alleges that the defendants broke California law by discharging a petroleum byproduct into its jurisdictional waters and federal law by discharging pollutants into waters of the United States without permits.

Petroleum coke, or "petcoke," is a byproduct of oil refining. According to Baykeeper's suit filed Tuesday, it is "harmful and deleterious to aquatic ecosystems, animal and plant species in and around waters and poses risks to human health."

Amports is listed in the suit because it stores petcoke for ship loading. Baykeeper alleges that Amports transfers the petcoke from silos, up a conveyor, into a crane, and then out of a nozzle into a cargo ship. Baykeeper contends that during that process, petcoke "overspray" is dispersed into the strait, onto the ship, onto the wharf through "plumes" through the air and onto the facility itself.

This petcoke "eventually goes into storm water systems and the Bay during rain events," the suit says. Ships are also hosed down after loading, Baykeeper alleges, washing petcoke directly into the strait.

Valero creates petcoke as part of its refinery process at its Benicia facility.

Baykeeper cites federal Clean Water Act violations, NPDES (National Pollutant Discharge Elimination System) permit violations, and unfair competition in its suit.

San Francisco Baykeeper is not commenting on pending litigation, but sent a previous press release in October about its notice of intent to sue.

"Baykeeper observed and documented numerous instances of petcoke being discharged directly into the Bay during the cargo loaded process between November 2020 and March 2021," the release reads.

Baykeeper said it used drones to record the activity after being apprised of the situation by public tips it received via its pollution hotline.

Baykeeper maintains that petcoke is considered a toxic substance by the U.S. Environmental Protection Agency and that it contains copper, zinc, nickel, arsenic, mercury and vanadium, therefore making it regulated by the Clean Water Act.

The EPA does refer to petcoke dust as a "health risk," but it says that petroleum coke itself "has a low level of toxicity and that there is no evidence of carcinogenicity."

Requests for comment from Amports and Valero were not returned. The Benicia Port Terminal Company could not be reached.

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