At 7:00 am on Monday, July 11, a check valve failure occurred on a coker at the Valero refinery. According to the Hazardous Materials Spill Report provided by the California Emergency Management Agency, the leak resulted in the release of 518 pounds of sulfur dioxide (S02) vapor. The duration of the leak is unknown.
The report also stated that the leak resulted in no injuries, no need for evacuation and no danger to Benicia's drinking water. The clean up was handled by Valero.
When an incident occurs at Valero, the supervisor on duty calls Benicia emergency dispatch and the Benicia Fire Department is notified. If the situation requires it, the Benicia fire services respond along with the Valero fire department. Should the situation become hazardous to the health of Benicia residents, the emergency alert system is activated and instructions are given to the public.
In this case, the Air Quality Management District and Benicia Fire Department were notified about the incident. It was determined that the Benicia Fire Department was not needed.
Fire Chief Steve Vucurevich commented that Valero does an excellent job of communicating with Benicia Fire.
Bobby Richardson
10:24 am on Thursday, July 14, 2011
Is this inevitable? I mean will this always happen and isn't it dangerous for the populace. I remember reading somewhere that Benicia has the 5th worse air in the bay area or something to that effect. And last but not least, are there any recourse that the public can take if they feel that their health has been affected by this ' coker unit spillage"?
JB Davis
1:17 pm on Thursday, July 14, 2011
If I remember correctly, SO2 smells like rotten eggs. When the release happened I believe the wind was blowing from the west so the fumes were blown away from town. If you ever smell something that doesn't seem right it's important to notify the fire department and Valero. Both have a vested interest in finding the source of odd smelling vapors in our community.
T. Gunter
12:10 pm on Thursday, July 14, 2011
As an aside, there was also a pipeline flange which began leaking diesel fuel on July 6 at Valero Benicia Refinery, discharging between 1,260 to 2,100 gallons before being discovered by an employee. The leak was controlled and the spill was cleaned-up. There were no reported risks to human health or the environment.
JB Davis
1:20 pm on Thursday, July 14, 2011
Wow, you've been reading the same reports I've been reading. I put a link in the article so anyone from Benicia can go to the web-site and see for themselves what kinds of accidental discharges have been taking place.