Environment
Richmond aims to become the first Bay Area city to advance a neighborhood green energy initiative, with plans to convert homes in a pilot neighborhood from gas to electric energy. The Richmond Clean Energy and Healthy Homes Project calls for replacing gas appliances with high-efficiency electric ones in a low-income neighborhood that PG&E would help the city identify. Upgrades will include heat pumps, electric panel enhancements, onsite solar panels, electric vehicle charging stations, and battery storage. The pilot would include…
The East Bay Regional Park District began during the height of the Great Depression with a ballot measure asking voters to institute a property tax for the purpose of creating a park system. Despite the hard economic times, voters overwhelmingly agreed to tax themselves so they could have more parks. Ninety years later, about 25 million people a year enjoy what has become the largest park district of its kind in the nation, a network essential to the active, outdoor…
Chevron says it has contained an oil spill that contaminated the San Francisco Bay at the Richmond Wharf on Thursday, and is working to clean it up. A Chevron employee reported the spill to state authorities at 5:14 a.m. The company said less than three barrels of a diesel-based liquid leaked into the bay because of a pump failure at the Richmond Long Wharf. Caitlin Powell, a Chevron spokesperson, said the company is still trying to determine the exact time…
Richmond City Council has awarded a contract of up to $250,000 to a British consulting firm to help the city make its vehicle fleet emission-free. The contract, passed unanimously on Oct. 22, entrusts Arup US Inc. with formulating a “Zero Emission Vehicle Fleet and Infrastructure Transition Plan” to replace approximately 400 city vehicles with vehicles that do not burn fossil fuel. To support a clean energy fleet, the plan also will include estimates on installing infrastructure such as charging stations…
Rafael Castro-Chavez was 13 years old when he heard a loud explosion in August 2012. He darted outside his North Richmond apartment and noticed his neighbors pointing toward the Chevron refinery, saying, “Hay un incendio!” As he turned to look, flames rose from the facility, and a large plume of black smoke advanced over his street. “They were telling us in the news that there is a lockdown and that it is not recommended for the community to go out,”…
At Chevron’s first town hall meeting with residents, community members had an opportunity to address their concerns about flaring and pollution directly to company representatives. The session Wednesday at Richmond CoBiz came out of Chevron’s $20 million settlement with the Bay Area Air Quality Management District in February, which called for the company to host two-hour meetings twice a year with residents about flaring events. “We are really trying to come at this with a learning intent and growth mindset…
As the sun dips below the horizon in Richmond, the Chevron refinery’s tall columns cast long shadows against the dusky sky. At a Chevron station on West Cutting Boulevard, David Stanford mutters as he fills his tank. “It makes zero sense. We are half a mile from the refinery, and gas prices are still $5 a gallon,” he said. “It’s not sustainable for normal people. Hard working people cannot afford the gas right now. It’s ridiculous.” It’s a thought echoed…
Transit agencies in the East Bay are promoting California Clean Air Day on Wednesday, with several providing free fares to encourage riders to use public transit. The goal of Clean Air Day is to encourage residents to participate in more sustainable activities to minimize air pollution. The agencies offering free rides include the San Francisco Bay Ferry, WestCAT, Wheels and County Connections. But the largest transit agencies in the Bay Area — AC Transit, BART, and MUNI — will not…
White Pony Express was trying to develop an app that would make it easier for grocery stores, restaurants and other small businesses to alert volunteer food runners when they had excess food that could be redistributed. So the nonprofit, which is based in Concord, applied for and received $100,000 from the Contra Costa County Innovation Fund grant. “It made a lot of things possible because we were a little bit stuck, where we had the technology, but the technology needed…