Chunk Of $27M Tesoro Settlement Should Stay Local, Officials Say

CONTRA COSTA COUNTY, CA — At least 40 percent of $27.5 million in settlement funds from the Tesoro Refining and Marketing Company for violations at its Martinez refinery should be used for local health initiatives, the Bay Area Air Quality Management District and Contra Costa County Board of Supervisors Chair John Gioia wrote Friday in a joint letter to the U.S. Department of Justice.

The DOJ and the U.S. Environmental Protection Agency — EPA — assessed the $27.5 million penalty in April after Tesoro violated a previous court order requiring it to reduce air pollution at its local petroleum refinery. According to the settlement, Tesoro failed to limit air emissions of nitrogen oxides, a pollutant that contributes to smog and particulate matter.

"Front-line communities near the refinery are disproportionately impacted by many sources of air pollution and deserve to receive greater benefits from the assessed penalty,” Supervisor Gioia said. "Our proposed plan will not only help reduce the health inequities caused by this pollution but will also help build resilience to the disproportionately greater impacts that climate change is having on these vulnerable populations."

The Air District has worked closely with Contra Costa Health to reduce health inequities for residents who are especially vulnerable to air pollution, according to Philip Fine, executive officer of the Air District.

"Our joint proposal to the U.S. EPA and Department of Justice would make a significant difference in improving the health outcomes for residents impacted by this pollution— these residents should benefit from providing at least 40 percent of the penalty funds for much-needed health and air quality improvement initiatives," Fine said.

Here is a list of joint funding proposals supported by both Contra Costa County and the Air District:

• Expanding the In-home Asthma Mitigation and Energy Efficiency Program: Supports conducting asthma trigger and energy efficiency assessments and improvements for Contra Costa Health Plan MediCal clients;
• Distributing portable air purifiers to homes: Supports the distribution of portable home air purifiers and replaceable filters through two asthma mitigation programs and the Public Health Nursing program;
• Installing HVAC systems and extending County library hours to serve as cooling centers: Supports upgrading HVAC systems to provide cleaner air and extending library hours in target communities where residents could go during poor air quality incidents, such as wildfire smoke events;
• Installing HVAC systems and portable air purifiers in schools: Supports expanding the number of school districts surrounding and downwind of the refinery that receive air purifiers;
• Sheltering unhoused during extreme weather events, industrial fires, or releases: Supports offering hotel vouchers to the unhoused population during a short-term incident that impacts air quality. This could include providing necessities such as transportation and staffing costs, as well as relocating an unhoused encampment downwind of a known hazardous material facility that could impact the health of residents if a release occurs;
• Strengthening community outreach for air quality and hazardous materials awareness and response to releases: Supports community outreach efforts to educate the community regarding hazardous materials incidents, including signing up for alerts;
• Supporting the Air District and Contra Costa Health with equipment or training: Supports funding related to regulatory topics, responding to hazardous materials incidents, communications training, technical training, and environmental enforcement training.

Patch sent a request for comment to Marathon Petroleum Corporation, Tesoro's parent company, regarding these requests and will update this post if we hear back.

RELATED: Tesoro To Pay $27.5M For Violating Court Order At Martinez Refinery

In April when the DOJ and EPA announced the penalty, Marathon sent this comment to Patch: "Marathon has a demonstrated history of continually improving our environmental performance across our operations, and we are committed to protecting the environment we all share. The origins of this matter predate Marathon Petroleum Corporation’s acquisition of the Martinez refinery, and we are glad to have resolved this matter with the U.S. government."