AFTER LIVING IN MARIN FOR MANY YEARS and after 20 years on the payrolls of Northwestern Bell, the U.S. Air Force and Pacific Telephone, I finally saved enough downpayment money to consider buying a home. It was the late 1980s and while I loved Marin, I couldn’t afford the price of an average Marin home.

A place of great interest to me was none other than Benicia! My good friend Susan had invited me over for the Peddlers Fair and I loved Benicia’s location, history and sense of community.

After a lot of searching I finally found a house I really liked, but before I went further, I asked my good friend Cecil Riordan, an architect, to help me evaluate the town and the house.

His major concern for me was that Benicia was situated along a corridor of refineries. He wasn’t worried about the smell produced by refineries — smell isn’t something advertised in real estate listings. What has saved Benicia in the past are the westerly breezes that usually blow odors away from us. So, in 1989, I upscaled from Marin and moved to Benicia.

Time passes

Upon taking a seat on Benicia’s Community Sustainability Commission and deeply studying Benicia’s 2009 Climate Action Plan, I learned we had a lot of work to do to reduce local greenhouse gas emissions. Our biggest emitter in Benicia is Valero and it is regulated for emissions by at least two California entities, the California Air Resources Board and the Bay Area Air Quality Management District. As a city and as a commission, we need to know how much GHG are produced by Valero, but doing anything about them is mostly out of our hands, except at those times when the city is able to determine whether construction projects proposed by the company are appropriate to our General Plan and our community’s health and safety.

We are at such an important crossroads now for our city’s future, and I want to share some information for your consideration.

Tonight, the city Planning Commission will hear oral testimony from the public on Valero’s Crude-by-Rail Project. (The community has until July 31 to present written comments or concerns about the project, though that period may be extended.)

After the public comment period, the commission will make its recommendations about the project to City Council. This is an important and historic decision facing Benicia and Benicians. I highly recommend your attendance at tonight’s meeting at 7 p.m. in City Council Chambers. I am hopeful the meeting will be televised and streamed as well.

Valero’s greenhouse gas emissions

The last publicly available data on Valero’s GHG emissions that I could find is 2012 data from California Air Resources Board. It shows the Benicia refinery emitting 2.9 million metric tonnes of CO2 (MTCO2e) in 2012.

Remember, one metric tonne measures 27 feet by 27 feet by 27 feet. Stacking Valero’s 2012 emissions one tonne upon another would result in a tower reaching 1,502.6 miles into space.

Through the proposed project, the refinery said it will stop using ships to bring 70,000 barrels of oil a day to Benicia and start using railroad oil tanker cars instead for 70,000 barrels, which then opens up the refinery’s ability to import Bakken crude and Canadian tar sands.

One of the selling points made for this endeavor is that it will reduce GHG. Well, does it? No, actually, as reported in the fascinating project Draft Environmental Impact Report (DEIR): Total GHG emissions will go up by 6,726 metric tonnes because of the use of train engines. In fact, the report says pointedly about some GHG that the overall air quality impacts are “significant and unavoidable.”

Valero processes between 165,000 and 180,000 barrels a day. One barrel equals 42 gallons; from that it is possible to refine 19 gallons of gas. If 19 gallons of gas were the only fuels refined, 19 x 165,000 equals 3,135,000 gallons of refined gasoline, which equals 27,870 MTCO2e. So, between Valero’s 2.9 million MTCO2e for refining plus the potential of burning Valero’s gas in our vehicles, jets, asphalt, liquid petroleum, etc., we annually “contribute” nearly 3 million MTCO2e to climate change just for oil and a steady city tax base. I wonder whether St. Peter at the Pearly Gates — or our children — will remember this fact when our time comes?

Other interesting data

A few years ago, as a trained Benicia Emergency Response Team (BERT) member, we did a simulation of a Valero refinery explosion. In essence, we learned that the best we could do as volunteers, given an explosion’s blast zone, volatility and tremendous release of toxins, was to shelter in place and let the trained responders provide emergency assistance. Valero does have a fire department, 30 certified Emergency Medical Team members and a registered nurse (DEIR Chapter 4.7-24). We know our Benicia Fire Department and reserves would be called to respond to any disaster, but the DEIR isn’t clear on the disaster training, funding for that training, funding for specialized equipment and, most importantly, disaster recovery and business continuity in the Industrial Park and community. Would a disaster in Benicia be like what happened in Lac-Magantic in Canada in July 2013, where the citizens are left to pick up the pieces of their lives and their city?

After that training simulation years ago, I knew not to fool around. I followed BERT instructions to buy and cut to size plastic sheets for my designated safe room. These sheets and the duct tape will seal my windows and doors (remember Homeland Security instructions?). While I live on the Carquinez side of Benicia, not facing Valero, I know the danger could happen from a tanker car explosion along the tracks across the Strait, or from a ship disaster in the Strait itself.

Then there are the health risks listed in the DEIR: environmental damage, project noise, spread of contaminants from construction. If you live on Lansing Circle, Columbia Circle or Allen Way, you might be interested in the noise projections, estimated disaster impact areas and your proximity to toxic emissions. I’m not sure whether plastic sheeting for windows and doors will be sufficient for the Water’s End residents in the event of a disaster. While the fire departments and personnel battle an explosion and fire, what is the plan to protect and evacuate residents? There should be a plan and the community should know about it and practice regular drills.

Likewise, if you do business in the Industrial Park, you’ll want to know that two train deliveries of 50 oil tanker cars in, and two out, will block traffic for a total of 32 minutes a day in addition to the other train deliveries made daily in the Industrial Park.

The DEIR also provides amazing detail on the flora and fauna both along Sulphur Springs Creek, which borders Valero’s property right near the project site, and in the beautiful Suisun Marsh, along which the trains will travel daily. Finally, if you ever wanted to know how Valero’s refinery works, there is an impressive overview of operations complete with diagrams in the DEIR’s Chapter 3.

A must-read

The DEIR for Valero’s proposed project is a must-read. It needs to be studied and seen in the light of the near- and long-term health and safety of the community. If you oppose, favor or are unsure about Valero’s project, take the time to study the DEIR and to hear the public comments. Our community’s sustainability depends on being informed and engaged.

Save water

Benicia as a city is working hard to address the drought, and one of many options for us as Benicians is a free laundry graywater kit. There are 28 kits available and some criteria to meet for this offer: complete an application at beniciasaveswater.org; attend a workshop and sign up for a free water and energy assessment. The July 12 workshop at the Community Center, 370 East L St., is from 10-1 p.m. and will show you how to properly install the free kit. Contact Climate Action Plan Coordinator Alex Porteshawver to let her know you’re coming: aporteshawver@ci.benicia.ca.us.

Learn more

• California Air Resources Board, mandatory GHG reporting: arb.ca.gov/cc/reporting/ghg-rep/reported-data/ghg-reports.htm

• GHG equivalencies calculator: epa.gov/cleanenergy/energy-resources/calculator.html#results

• How many gallons of refined gas made from one barrel of oil: eia.gov/tools/faqs/faq.cfm?id=24&t=10

• Valero Crude-by-Rail page: ci.benicia.ca.us/index.asp?SEC=%7BFDE9A332-542E-44C1-BBD0-A94C288675FD%7D

• BeniciaIndependent.com

Constance Beutel is the chair of Benicia’s Community Sustainability Commission. She is a university professor and videographer and holds a doctorate from the University of San Francisco.