Chevron refinery ‘fire’ fears as thick black smoke seen rising from huge 2,900-acre oil site in Richmond California

THE Chevron oil refinery in Richmond, California appears to have smoke billowing out of it, worrying nearby residents.

“Seriously?!! Chevron refinery is on fire again?!!?” someone wrote on Twitter alongside a photo of the site with an alarming amount of smoke rising above it.

Twitter/@PennieOpal

It’s unclear what is causing the black smoke about the Chevron oil refinery[/caption]

Chevron filed a report with the state and revealed an “unplanned upset” caused the flaring activity, ABC7 reported.

“RP states an unplanned upset occurred releasing an unknown amount of SO2 into the atmosphere,” a statement noted.

“This is causing smoke to come out from the flares. Release has not been stopped and is not contained with no waterways impacted.”

“The Chevron refinery in Richmond is sending gases to its flares,
@CoCoHealth confirms,” Ted Goldberg, a KQED reporter shared on Twitter, referring to Contra Costa Health Services, the county public health services department.

“By my count – this is Chevron’s 13th flaring incident of the year,” he added.

“That is more than the number of flaring operations conducted by all other Bay Area refineries combined so far in 2021.”

The refinery in El Segundo also had flaring activity just two days prior after a compressor went down, KTLA reported on August 9.

AP:Associated Press

The same site dealt with a fire on March 25, 1999, with smoke from that explosion pictured here[/caption]