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  • May 8, 2025
You are here: Home / Archives for Valero Benicia Refinery

Cathy Bennett: Is it safe to open your windows, Benicia?

June 24, 2018 by Editor 43 Comments

By Cathy Bennett Special to the Herald When the subject of Valero comes up most of us think about the refinery.  For many of us, this is a reminder of the toxic emissions it releases into our air on a daily basis.  That’s troublesome enough, but most of us are unaware that Valero also operates […]

Filed Under: Features, Opinion, Spotlight Tagged With: asphalt plant, Cathy Bennett, forum, Industrial Safety Ordinance, opinion, Valero Benicia Refinery

Bob Livesay: ISO vote was win for voters, residents

June 24, 2018 by Editor Leave a Comment

By Bob Livesay Special to the Herald Mayor Patterson must be in shock. Why would I say that?  The mayor and her gang of 12 just got the shock of their life. Their attempt to hijack the City Council meeting went down in a big defeat, that being the Industrial Safety Ordinance (ISO).  Backed by […]

Filed Under: Features, Opinion, Spotlight Tagged With: Benicia City Council, Bob Livesay, forum, Industrial Safety Ordinance, opinion, Valero Benicia Refinery

Christina Strawbridge: Another late night spent at the City Council Chambers

June 22, 2018 by Christina Strawbridge Leave a Comment

Several important issues have been voted on by the Benicia City Council in the wee hours of the morning as of late. This past Tuesday was no exception. The packed Chamber was full of those who wanted to speak on the noise ordinance, and the rest of the attendees were there for the Industrial Safety […]

Filed Under: Features, Opinion, Spotlight Tagged With: Benicia, Benicia City Council, Christina Strawbridge, forum, Industrial Safety Ordinance, opinion, Valero Benicia Refinery

Council votes down Industrial Safety Ordinance

June 20, 2018 by Nick Sestanovich 2 Comments

At Tuesday’s meeting, the Benicia City Council did not approve Mayor Elizabeth Patterson’s request to adopt an Industrial Safety Ordinance (ISO), at least not yet. Instead, the council voted 3-2 to direct staff to monitor Solano County’s implementation of Program 4 for the county’s Certified Unified Program Agency (CUPA) and meet with the Valero Benicia […]

Filed Under: Features, Front Page, News Tagged With: Benicia, Benicia City Council, Industrial Safety Ordinance, Valero Benicia Refinery

Letter: Stand for Benicia

June 17, 2018 by Editor 3 Comments

Stand for Benicia On Tuesday, the Benicia City Council will hear from a Citizen Group requesting that a draft Industrial Safety Ordinance be referred to city staff for review.  This is a signature moment for Benicia, as it will signal whether the City Council puts the health and safety of Benicia, its citizens and community […]

Filed Under: Letters, Opinion Tagged With: Benicia, Industrial Safety Ordinance, letters, opinion, Valero Benicia Refinery

Second step of Industrial Safety Ordinance process on council agenda

June 15, 2018 by Nick Sestanovich 3 Comments

More than a year after the Benicia City Council approved the first step in a two-step process to consider bringing an Industrial Safety Ordinance (ISO) to Benicia, the council will resume its discussion Tuesday when the matter is brought back for the second step of the process. Following the flaring incident at the Valero Benicia […]

Filed Under: Features, Front Page, News Tagged With: Benicia, Benicia City Council, Industrial Safety Ordinance, Valero Benicia Refinery

Letter: Making sense of air monitoring (Part 1)

June 15, 2018 by Editor 15 Comments

Making sense of air monitoring (Part 1) Most of the time, you cannot see dirty air – for example you can’t see particulates.  We know that particulates increase the age-specific mortality risk, particularly from cardiovascular causes. In fact, epidemiological studies suggest public health officials are underestimating the effect of acute pollution exposure on mortality and […]

Filed Under: Letters, Opinion Tagged With: Benicia, Industrial Safety Ordinance, letters, opinion, Valero Benicia Refinery

Pat Toth-Smith: More than a year after the Valero flaring incident, are we safer?

May 29, 2018 by Pat Toth Smith 8 Comments

A year after the May 5, 2017 Valero emergency shutdown and major flaring incident, and the subsequent release of more than 74,000 pounds of sulfur dioxide into the air, are we any safer in Benicia? Has the emergency backup electrical generation changed for the refinery since this incident? Should we stop worrying about future emergency […]

Filed Under: Features, Opinion, Spotlight Tagged With: forum, Industrial Safety Ordinance, opinion, Pat Toth-Smith, Valero Benicia Refinery, Valero flaring incident

Letter: Making our city safer

May 20, 2018 by Editor 4 Comments

Making our city safer Valero needs to be a better neighbor. This would include opening the lines of communication with the surrounding community and the officials of the City of Benicia. As Andres Soto wrote in a recent letter to the editor, it’s been over a year since Valero’s massive month long flaring debacle of […]

Filed Under: Letters, Opinion Tagged With: Benicia, Industrial Safety Ordinance, letter, opinion, Valero Benicia Refinery

Letter: Stronger emergency response system needed in Industrial Park

May 15, 2018 by Editor Leave a Comment

Stronger emergency response system needed in Industrial Park In her May 6 letter, Kathy Kerridge brought up an important point about adopting a Industrial Safety Ordinance (ISO). There have been several letters and information about what would be covered in an ISO. Although I have not seen a final draft of the ISO, as it […]

Filed Under: Letters, Opinion Tagged With: Benicia, Industrial Park, Industrial Safety Ordinance, letters, opinion, Valero Benicia Refinery

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