Contra Costa expands Community Warning System, alerting residents to more hazmat incidents

Contra Costa Health, in collaboration with the Community Warning System, has updated its text notification system for hazardous materials alerts. 

This system now allows residents to sign up for text messages for Level 1, 2 and 3 events at industrial facilities regulated by the county, including the four oil refineries. That means residents receiving alerts will even be notified of refinery flares.  Previously, residents were only receiving text messages about Level 2 and 3 events — the kinds of incidents that have more widespread impact. 

Ellen Seskin, who has lived in Richmond for over 40 years, has not found the alert system helpful. She said alerts are sent out too late, and she often already knows what is happening before receiving them. She added that they do not contain directives for how residents should respond to an event. 

“It feels horrible to say that, but it’s true. It’s just not working right,” she said.  

For example, at 2:32 a.m. on Feb. 8 the warning system issued a Level 1 notification that gave only minimal details — the event level, a general location, who reported it and to whom, as well as a link for more information. In this case, Chevron had reported something that happened in Richmond to Contra Costa Health. The link in the alert went to a website that merely explained what a Level 1 alert is, notably, that no action was required. 

Nine Level 1 alerts had gone out since last week. Alerts are assigned that level when they are not expected to have off-site consequences. However, residents have questioned the system when Level 1 flares at the Richmond Chevron refinery have belched flames and smoke into the air, sometimes for hours. 

The change came on Jan. 15, seven months after a Contra Costa County grand jury investigating the alert system recommended adding Level 1 alerts, saying it would help increase the number of residents subscribed to the service.

The county Board of Supervisors Industrial Safety Ordinance Committee then instructed the Health Department to implement the grand jury’s recommendation. 

As of June, only 30% of Contra Costa County’s 1.15 million residents were registered for alerts. 

Contra Costa Health said it has been using social media to spread the word. The Sheriff’s Office, which oversees the warning system, did not respond to Richmond Confidential’s multiple requests for more information, including how many residents have registered for the service since Jan. 15. 

Contra Costa made several posts informing residents about the warning system’s addition of Level 1 alerts on Instagram and X,  garnering little traction, with both posts on X getting three reposts and zero likes. 

Contra Costa Health Hazmat Division is looking to expand outreach and education efforts around both the new community awareness messaging and warnings for hazmat incidents, according to the county’s public information office. 

Supervisor John Gioia, who is on the Industrial Safety Ordinance Committee and helped to implement the change, said Richmond residents have stressed to him the importance of being informed about hazmat incident. Gioia said that any time an incident occurs, people call him, seeking information. 

The grand jury also recommended that by the end of the year, residents be automatically added to the service and given the choice to opt out. Asked this week if the county would be following that recommendation, Contra Costa Health referred Richmond Confidential to the sheriff’s office, which did not respond to the inquiry.

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