Valero cut its Benicia fire crew, hopes for outside aid in case of tank fire
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 Manager Lauren Bird said Tuesday at the refinery’s final community advisory panel meeting. About 20 employees will be left alongside contractors as the plant continues to import, store and distribute gas and diesel in the near future. The company will no longer import jet fuel through Benicia, citing easier routes to support airports, Valero Section Business Law Chief David Giles said at the meeting. Valero will use a fraction of its tanks for storage.
Among the layoffs were Valero’s own firefighters, leaving serious questions about who would respond to potential fires at the facility. Valero officials admitted that, although rare, possible tank fires are their biggest concern. These fires, which occur inside petroleum storage tanks, require specialized training and equipment that can take hours to set up.
“We're going to train our employees to work the fire suppression systems. We're going to conduct annual drills with the Benicia Fire Department here on site, and then we're going to lead that initial response,” said Tommy Stone, Valero senior health, safety, and emergency response manager. “From there, we’re going to rely on our industrial partners.”
Valero and other local refineries are part of a mutual aid group, Stone explains. It’s why better-resourced refinery fire brigades from Valero and Chevron’s Richmond refineries responded to the 2019 fire at Crockett’s NuStar tank farm. Investigators determined that fire was caused by an explosion due to static electricity build-up or a spark in one tank that spread to another tank when its roof blew off, according to a KTVU report. It resulted in a 15-acre fire.
Valero had its own fire at the Benicia Refinery last May, which was reportedly sparked by a broken furnace, according to the San Francisco Chronicle.
Although Valero would maintain what it says are sufficient stocks of specialized firefighting foam at its Benicia plant, it would outsource actual firefighting to the Benicia Fire Department, neighboring refineries, and paid off-site industrial firefighting firms, US Fire Pump and Williams Fire & Hazard Control.
Benicia Council Member Terry Scott expressed reservations regarding Valero’s reliance on aid from other nearby refineries. He expressed particular concern for neighborhoods like Hillcrest in Benicia that are in close proximity to the plant.
“The City of Benicia has potentially 10 firefighters [on duty at a time] that we could bring to a potential fire,” he said. “I mean this with no disrespect, please, but it concerns me that we're talking about a 'hopeful' strategy.”
Benicia Fire Chief Josh Chadwick said the plan is far from a done deal. Still, he added that it was a marked improvement from the company’s initial proposal, which he characterized as completely unworkable and “woefully inadequate.”
“What’s being presented today is 1000 times better than it was before,” Chadwick said, “but there’s a few things that need to be worked out.”
Community advisory panel member Cara Bateman is an environmental manager. She raised concerns about the state of existing fire water lines to the refinery. Giles assured the advisory group that Valero runs lines weekly to ensure adequate water pressure. And while there are leaks, he said pipes are working and will be maintained through the company’s tenure, which is unlikely to extend beyond two years.
Tuesday marked the community advisory panel’s final meeting, however, members hope to continue the dialogue with Valero representatives — perhaps as part of the city’s Industrial Safety Citizen Oversight Commission.
Giles suggested that Valero might be open to the idea.
“At least the way I view it is, if we're going to have operations here for fuel imports, then we need to have a dialog so there’s information.”
This story was reported by Laura López González. Reach out at laura@thebeniciabridge.com.
