Benicia approves ordinance regulating hazardous materials manufacturers

BENICIA - Benicia city officials answered residents’ calls for tighter regulations on businesses producing hazardous materials within Benicia by embracing an ordinance regulating some local companies like the Valero Refinery.

The Benicia City Council on Tuesday unanimously adopted an Industrial Health and Safety Ordinance to monitor dangerous incidents at “high hazard facilities” like the refinery. The vote comes following a debate last month over potential legal challenges from Valero.

The council made some final tweaks to the ordinance, which has been under development for more than a year. The ordinance’s third draft now requires holding hearings after an incident when hazardous materials are released into the city. The councilmembers also required a fee assessment study to report how much businesses will need to pay to comply with the ordinance.

Mayor Steve Young endorsed the ordinance following several rounds of revisions, emphasizing how hard the city’s staff worked on it to avoid overstepping Benicia’s authority to regulate businesses. He said he doubts anything in the ordinance could push Valero to leave, since the company is already frustrated with the state’s heavy regulation of industries. 

“They’re not happy with California, they’re not happy with Governor Newsom … and a decision they make about whether they stay or leave has nothing to do with what we’re going to do here today,” Young said. But he praised the company’s operations, saying, “If we’re gonna have a refinery here, Valero is the best operator we can get. We would be poorer off if they left.”

Fire Chief Josh Chadwick said he’s seen how other refineries in the region do not always cooperate with nearby local fire departments, and wants to prevent that in Benicia. He reminded the council that this ordinance has been crafted despite the existing cooperative agreement with Valero because “You guys wanted to transition from the agreement into an ordinance.” 

“There’s no way for a business to get out from under an ordinance, there’s no, ‘I don’t want to play anymore,’” he said.

Chadwick said that since Contra Costa County’s ordinance was adopted in 1998, he’s been working hard on the relationship with Valero and considers it to be strong. 

“My concern was that we’d be fighting with them and that the relationship would be damaged. I will do everything I can, if this goes through, to not let that happen,” Chadwick said.

Multiple letters were filed ahead of the meeting from public stakeholders complaining about the ordinance’s potential financial burden on some businesses. Vallejo resident Toni Foster said businesses could face costs which drive them to consider moving elsewhere. She suggested revisiting the current agreement with Valero to expand provisions for public safety and clean air and water protections.

City Hall was so full of public commenters Tuesday night that comments on the ordinance ran for more than two hours. A father referring to himself as Mr. Christie brought his two children to the podium. He said his family considered leaving Benicia “due to the scientifically documented hazards of living too close to a refinery” but decided to stay, and support an ordinance to protect their community’s health. 

Resident Petra Smith reminded the council that Valero recently faced a lawsuit from the U.S. Environmental Protection Agency over its releases of toxic materials while under the agreement with the city. The company didn’t meet Bay Area Air Quality Management District requirements to monitor and report fugitive gasses from their operating equipment, and the refinery was the site of a 15-year release of 2.7 tons of airborne toxins for which it paid a record $82 million to the air district last year. 

Smith said her daughter used to run with her track team in the area during periods when those gas releases took place, and added, “It frankly makes me sick.”

“I look forward to this ISO being in place because of the safety for the citizens,” Smith said. “I’m excited about having air monitors all over the city. I am so tired of posting different air monitor websites so people can find out what’s in their air. I am also tired of not finding out about an incident until hours and hours later.”

Councilmember Terry Scott said that he doesn’t want the ordinance to be viewed as “adversarial” to Valero, when the city has worked hard on relationships with responsibly operating businesses. He said he was frustrated to see how many stakeholders and residents supporting Valero turned out late in the process, when Benicia officials have already heard from 178 people who responded to surveys between March 25 and May 19.

“The most successful industrial operations are those who see safety not as a regulatory requirement, but as a core value,” Scott said. “Prevention is always more cost effective than dealing with the aftermath of an incident.”

Councilmember Kari Birdseye agreed, saying the ordinance hasn’t been designed to “coerce” any stakeholder.

“We are here tonight because our community asked us to, not because of any fear and loathing of our industry partners,” Birdseye said. “Our community depends on the collaborative relationship between Valero and our city. Nobody wants to hurt this relationship.”

The city will next complete a fee assessment study determining how much the ordinance might cost some businesses, following a Feb. 21 request from the Chamber of Commerce and Advocacy Committee and Sherry of the Benicia Industrial Park Association requesting a formal fee assessment report on associated costs for compliance. The date to discuss this study, and the ordinance’s second reading, has not yet been set.