Bay Area Watchdog Fines Chevron Refinery $900,000 For Failure To Monitor Emissions

MARTINEZ, CA — The Bay Area Air District fined Chevron $900,000 for failing to properly monitor air pollution emissions at its refinery in Richmond and ordered the company to upgrade their systems.

The Air District found 20 of Chevron’s monitors were not properly configured to detect the full range of potential emissions and were limited in how much emissions they could measure, according to an announcement today.

The Bay Area Air District is the regional agency responsible for protecting air quality in the nine-county Bay Area.

The deficiencies mean that if emissions increase beyond legal limits, they could go undetected and unreported, leaving both Chevron and the agency without critical information about real-time air quality impacts.

To address these problems, the Air District required Chevron to upgrade the monitors to ensure accurate measuring of high emissions levels.

When Chevron failed to implement the upgrades by the required deadline, the Air District issued nine notices of violation, according to the agency.

“The Air District maintains strong oversight of refinery operations, including regular inspections and emissions monitoring,” said Dr. Philip Fine, executive officer of the Air District. “Requiring Chevron to install and maintain its own monitors provides additional emissions data and further supports compliance and transparency. Chevron’s upgrades to its monitoring systems are an important step toward strengthened accountability and accessible information for the communities surrounding the refinery.”

Chevron has addressed all the cited monitors, and the Air District is reviewing certification test results to confirm that they are all now working properly, according to the agency.

A portion of the penalties paid by Chevron, according to the agency, will be used to support local projects aimed at reducing pollution and improving public health.

A Chevron spokesperson sent a statement on behalf of the company. "Chevron and the Bay Area Air District have finalized an agreement to install a redundant set of air monitors, equipment that goes above and beyond federal regulations. The agreed installation comes at high cost while providing little benefit, as all instances of potential noncompliance were previously reported to the Air District using earlier monitoring. It is a local example of the type of excessive regulatory action that is driving up costs in California."

The spokesperson did not immediately respond to a request for clarification why Chevron delayed installation of the required monitors.