Following the May 5 flaring incident at the Valero Benicia Refinery in May, local organizations have been advocating for the city to adopt an Industrial Safety Ordinance (ISO) to ensure that such an incident is never repeated. These organizations will be hosting a panel at the Benicia Public Library to go over how a similar ordinance has been enacted in Contra Costa County, home of four of the Bay Area’s five refineries.

Back in May, the Valero refinery underwent an emergency shutdown as Pacific Gas & Electric was performing maintenance on power lines. When the power was restored, black smoke was released from the refinery for several hours, prompting an evacuation of the Industrial Park and shelters-in-place being established at two nearby schools.

For some residents, the incident prompted a need to revisit discussions of establishing an ISO at the refinery, which had initially taken place in the early 2000s shortly after Valero acquired the Exxon Benicia Refinery.

For Andres Soto, a spokesperson for Benicians for a Safe and Healthy Community, the incident sparked a need for residents to be more informed about what happened.

“Benicia had virtually no capacity to really get to what’s going on in the refinery, to have any oversight, to get any reports other than that which may be generated by, say, Cal/OSHA and CalEPA,” he said.

According to Soto, all the other Bay Area refineries are subject to an ISO by the Contra Costa County Health Department’s Hazardous Materials Division. The county enforces the ISO for three of its refineries, while the Chevron Refinery in Richmond is subject to that city’s version of the ordinance, which is heavily based on the county ISO.

“It was past due for Benicia to get that kind of protection and authority that the other refineries have,” Soto said.

Under Contra Costa’s ordinance, refineries are required to submit safety plans, experience safety audits and develop risk management plans while utilizing community input. Additionally, in the aftermath of incidents like the one that occurred in May, the refinery can provide a preliminary safety report in May.

Mayor Elizabeth Patterson brought forth a request to agendize discussion of an ISO modeled after Contra Costa’s ordinance at a City Council meeting in May. The council approved the request 4-1, but the issue has not been on any council agendas since.

Valero representatives have challenged the need for an ISO. At the same council meeting, the refinery’s Public Affairs Manager Sue Fisher Jones opined that a citywide ISO would be “redundant” given Cal/OSHA’s statewide ISO regulations. However, Soto said the state ISO was limited.

“The reality is that Cal/OSHA only applies to workers’ safety, not community safety,” he said. “We want Cal/OSHA to be able to speak for themselves as to their authority and the limits on that authority.”

The panel will feature a variety of speakers to answer questions on the Industrial Safety Ordinance. It will consist of Clyde Trombettas, the statewide manager and policy adviser for Cal/OSHA’s Process Safety Management Unit; Greg Vlasek, the California Environmental Protection Agency’s assistant secretary for local program coordination and emergency response; Randy Sawyer, Contra Costa’s chief environmental health and hazardous materials officer; and Contra Costa County Supervisor John Gioia.

“(Gioia) is a Richmond resident and he’s on the Board of Supervisors,” Soto said. “He understands intimately how these two ordinances work together, and that’s the model we’re suggesting for the city of Benicia.”

Soto hopes the City Council or Planning Commission will discuss it in the future.

“Being an ordinance, technically, it probably would only have to go to the City Council but because it does involve the refinery, I could see where there could be an opportunity to have a hearing in front of the Planning Commission,” he said.

Overall, Soto said, the main goal of the panel is to provide more information for the community about the ordinance.

“Under the Industrial Safety Ordinance, there is a cost and process of updating and improving process safety that also translates to worker and community health and safety,” he said. “It’s an additional tool.”

The panel will be held at 7 p.m. Tuesday, Nov. 14 in the Dona Benicia Room of the Benicia Public Library, located at 150 East L St. The panel is open to the public, who are encouraged to ask questions. The panel is sponsored by Benicians for a Safe and Healthy Community, Progressive Democrats of Benicia, The Benicia Independent, Communities for a Better Environment, Solano County Supervisor Monica Brown, Carquinez Patriotic Resistance and United Democrats of Solano County. For more information, contact Soto at andres@cbecal.org.