Welcome to The Benicia Bridge newsletter. It’s official: after nearly 60 years as a refinery town, Benicia’s stacks have gone cold. Valero officially stopped refining at its Benicia plant with no plans to start up again. What does that mean for the City's finances? The City
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Valero delayed reporting the March 26 flare tower release, which remains under investigation by several agencies. The plant may not have reported the flaring to state authorities at all, had it not been for Solano County officials’ urging. A distinctive black plume from one of Valero’s three flare stacks
Valero laid off its refinery firefighters in Benicia. Now, company executives have said they hope to rely on the Benicia Fire Department, contractors, and neighboring refineries to provide the manpower needed to tackle a future fire. Valero completed its latest round of layoffs this week, leaving about 70 employees, General
Company representative says Valero has no plans for a “tank farm” and will likely leave in the next two years For the first time in nearly 60 years, Benicia’s refinery stacks have gone quiet as Valero has officially stopped refining at the plant, general manager and vice president, Lauren
Welcome to The Benicia Bridge newsletter. Weather: Rain and thunderstorms are expected through Sunday. Benicia is preparing with sandbags available for residents at the Benicia Corp Yard (2400 East Second St.) and East E St. parking lot off First St. Here’s a quote of the week: "Would you
Benicia City Council learned about improvements needed to maintain the Port of Benicia, as well as potential work that could attract more seafaring customers – to the cost of $700 million. Background: The City of Benicia received a $750,000 grant to develop a Port of Benicia Facilities and Infrastructure Modernization
After “years of disrepair,” the City Council on Tuesday approved spending up to $1.6 million to fix and maintain the city’s aging solar panels for the next five years. There’s a caveat. Background: The city has 10 solar arrays installed about 15 years ago to power a
Local news. For Benicia, by Benicia.
Black smoke and soot erupted from a flare stack during a cleaning operation at the Valero Refinery in Benicia Thursday morning, prompting the Fire Department to issue a voluntary shelter in place – the most recent emissions event attributed to refinery shutdown activities. For two months, residents have witnessed increased flaring
Update, Jan. 27: The Benicia Fire Department issued a notice Wednesday that intermittent odors and flaring at the Valero refinery are related to refinery shutdown operations, and that "these conditions are expected to continue intermittently over the next several months." The Department is working with Bay Area Air
Valero said it plans to layoff 237 employees from its Benicia facility this spring when it idles the refinery processing units on East 2nd St., impacting scientists, engineers, maintenance workers, supervisors, operators and more. A list of the position titles impacted is in the letter embedded below. Valero Refining Company
The Benicia Bridge is a local newsletter launched in January 2026 by two professional journalists who recently returned to our hometown of Benicia. We were raised here. We live here. We care about this community. Why The Benicia Bridge? A bridge helps people traverse obstacles, brings people together and provides