On Thursday last week, city of Benicia staff released the agenda for the crucial and perhaps decisive Sept. 20 meeting of the Benicia City Council. A staff report accompanying the agenda stands by the staff’s previous positions on Valero’s oil train proposal, recommending on Page 10 that Council approve Valero’s appeal, reject Benicia’s Planning Commission […]
Office seekers/holders discuss goals, crude by rail at Candidates’ Night
(This is Part 1 of a 2-part article. For Part 2, go here.) Candidates for mayor and city council had an opportunity to answer questions on important issues Tuesday night at the Benicia Chamber of Commerce’s Candidates’ Night. The forum was held in the Council Chambers of City Hall and moderated by Peter Friesen. All […]
Grant Cooke: Benicia’s future is with Patterson, Young and the new economy
If Valero’s crude-by-rail, or CBR, project goes through, it will do irreparable damage to Benicia. If the three councilmembers—Mark Hughes, Christina Strawbridge and Alan Schwartzman— continue their support for the project, they will do an extraordinary disservice to the city. I respect those who work on behalf of local government; however, in this case, the […]
State AG: Valero DEIR ‘inadequate’
■ Kamala Harris letter to city: Crude-by-rail report fails to address multiple key issues In a letter composed Oct. 2, California Attorney General Kamala D. Harris urged Benicia to revise the Draft Environmental Impact Report prepared for the proposed Valero Crude-by-Rail Project. She and Deputy Attorney General Scott J. Lichtig wrote Benicia Principal Planner Amy […]
From military to industrial: Benicia’s ‘overnight’ transition
How a refinery and the Industrial Park shaped the city In Benicia’s not-too-distant past, its financial situation was so dire that employees who were handed checks on Friday were told not to cash them until Tuesday. That was before the U.S. Army announced in the early 1960s that the Benicia Arsenal would be the first […]
Comment period on crude-by-rail extended to 90 days
Benicia Planning Commission decided Thursday to double the amount of time the public will be able to comment on the Draft Environmental Impact Report for the proposed Valero Crude-by-Rail Project, to 90 from 45 days. And rather than keep Thursday’s meeting going until those who filled City Hall had a chance to speak, the panel […]
Open letter to the City Council: Support CBR
TO BENICIA CITY COUNCIL AND BENICIA PLANNING COMMISSION, RE: THE VALERO CRUDE-BY-RAIL PROJECT: Ladies and gentlemen, This letter is written in support of the proposed Valero Refinery crude by rail (CBR) project. I have a unique perspective on the issue, for two reasons: • I am a board-certified occupational and environmental medicine physician. Having researched, […]
U.S. reps.: Make crude shipments safer
Thompson, others call for new regulations to prevent accidents U.S. Rep. Mike Thompson, D-Napa, has joined three other California members of Congress in asking Secretary of Transportation Anthony Foxx to make crude shipments by rail safer. Thompson, Benicia’s member of the House, as well as Doris Matsui, D-Sacramento, George Miller, D-Martinez, and John Garamendi, D-Fairfield, […]
Valero: Crude-by-rail plan would reduce emissions, make refinery more competitive
General manager: If you have a refinery in your community, ‘you want Valero to run that refinery’ Valero Benicia Refinery’s Crude-by-Rail Project is a logistics endeavor that ultimately would reduce transportation-related greenhouse gas emissions not only in Benicia but throughout other Bay Area communities, a packed room in the local Ironworkers Union building heard Monday […]
Valero refinery engineers to address DEIR
Monday meeting requires RSVP Valero Benicia Refinery engineers will speak Monday at a public meeting on the refinery’s Crude-by-Rail Project and Benicia’s Draft Environmental Impact Report (DEIR) that was released June 17. “Valero remains committed to informing the community about the project and to promoting public discussion of the DEIR,” refinery officials said in an […]