September 24, 2024
Community Development
DATE: September 24, 2024
TO: Mayor Martinez and Members of the City Council
FROM:
Lina Velasco, Director of Community Development
Nicole A. Heath, Director of Hazardous Materials
Programs, Contra Costa Health (CCH)
Subject:
Final Third-Party Review Report of the Chevron
Richmond Refinery February 9, 2021 Oil Spill Incident
Investigation
FINANCIAL IMPACT: There is no fiscal impact to the General Fund related to receiving this report.
PREVIOUS COUNCIL
ACTION:
None
STATEMENT OF THE
ISSUE:
On February 9th, 2021, Chevron Richmond Refinery
confirmed an oil leak from the 003 line at the Richmond Long Wharf. The leak released approximately 18 barrels
of hydrocarbons into the San Francisco Bay. Chevron
Richmond Refinery issued a level 2 Community Warning
System (CWS) Notification via their CWS Terminal by
Contra Costa Health (CCH). In response to the incident, CCH - Hazardous Materials Programs (CCHHMP)
designated the incident a Major Chemical Accident or
Release (MCAR) per Contra Costa County’s (CCC)
industrial safety ordinance (ISO) and City of Richmond
industrial safety ordinance (RISO) regulatory
requirements. CCH commissioned AcuTech Group, Inc.
(AcuTech) to provide a third-party review of the Chevron Richmond Refinery February 9, 2021 oil spill
investigation.
AGENDA
REPORT
September 24, 2024
RECOMMENDED ACTION:
RECEIVE the written Final Third-Party Review Report of
the Chevron Richmond Refinery February 9, 2021 Oil
Spill Incident Investigation – Community Development
(Lina Velasco 620-6841).
DISCUSSION:
Background
Chevron Richmond Refinery had a hydrocarbon leak from a pipeline (003 line, also known as 16 Ballast line) at the Chevron Richmond Long Wharf on February 9, 2021. Per Chevron calculations, up to 18.41 barrels of hydrocarbon leaked into the San Francisco Bay which was a mix of ultra-low sulfur diesel fuel and flush water.
Containment booms were deployed to protect environmentally sensitive sites and shorelines. A Level 2 community warning public health advisory was issued to nearby residents following the CCH - Hazardous Materials Program policy for hazardous materials incident notification.
In response to the incident, Contra Costa Health (CCH) - Hazardous Materials Programs (CCHHMP) designated the incident a Major Chemical Accident or Release (MCAR) per Contra Costa County’s (CCC) industrial safety ordinance (ISO) and City of Richmond industrial safety ordinance (RISO) regulatory requirements. Section 6.43.090(c)(2) of the RISO (similar to Section 450-
8.016(c)(2) of the ISO) allows Contra Costa Health Hazardous Materials Program to conduct an independent root cause analysis of the MCAR. In this case, CCHHMP recommended to the Contra Costa County Industrial Safety Ordinance/Community Warning System Ad Hoc Committee, which is appointed by the County Board of Supervisors, that CCH hire an independent expert to review the root cause investigation report conducted by Chevron.
CCH commissioned AcuTech Group, Inc. (AcuTech) to provide a third-party review of the Chevron Richmond Refinery February 9, 2021 oil spill investigation.
AcuTech was contracted by CCH to initiate the project on August 13, 2021; however, was unable to begin the assessment until Chevron released their investigation report of the incident. On August 26, 2022, Chevron provided the report titled “Event Title: February 9, 2021 Richmond Long Wharf Incident, IMPACT ERM Investigation #128842 & LI #192231, September 23, 2021”, to AcuTech.
AcuTech Scope of Work and Approach
AcuTech’s scope of work was limited to providing a third-party review of the incident investigation report conducted by Chevron. This involved AcuTech performing the following tasks:
September 24, 2024
Reviewing the root cause analysis report to ascertain the completeness of the report and adherence to the requirements and expectations of the ISO or RISO
Developing a set of questions and additional data required to further understand the events leading up to the incident, discovery, mitigation, and recommended actions related to the incident
Reviewing data provided by Chevron on the response to the event, root cause analysis (RCA) process and mechanical integrity specific aspects for line 003 including the design, construction, maintenance, inspection, procedures, surveillance, and repair
Reviewing Chevron’s follow-up response and status of their recommended actions related to the incident and RCA including the actions taken to date by Chevron to address their findings
Evaluating agency notifications along with other completed and available agency notification and investigation reports
Developing an opinion on the RCA and actions by Chevron related to the investigation and follow-up
To aid in the completion of the above tasks, AcuTech requested additional documents from Chevron to understand the incident and how Chevron was addressing the findings of their investigation. Questions were posed to Chevron regarding the incident investigation report and Chevron provided written responses along with verbal responses through interviews conducted with Chevron personnel.
Public Input
CCH hosted a community meeting in Richmond at the Bermuda Room of the Richmond Auditorium on July 17, 2023 to receive input on the draft Report. This meeting was held following a 45-day public notice period.
Conclusions/Findings
During the 45-day public notice period, 117 public comments were received, addressed and attached to the draft report. The comments resulted in minor changes to pages 10 and 13 of the report. The final report was brought to the Industrial Safety Ordinance (ISO)/Community Warning System (CWS) Ad Hoc Committee on May 30, 2024. At that time staff was directed to include in the report all documents reviewed by Acutech that could be released to the public. The final report has been updated to include this information in Section 12- Addendum A.
DOCUMENTS ATTACHED:
Attachment 1 – Final Third-party Review of February 9, 2021 Chevron Richmond Refinery Oil Spill Incident Investigation