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 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.
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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.
