Health
At least 6,300 residents have filed claims for compensation since Monday, according to figures released by Chevron spokesperson Katie Winter.
Inspectors from the Bay Area Air Quality Management District released a statement on the air quality Wednesday stating that the toxins and pollutants in samples they tested were at a “good-to-moderate” range.
A new, smaller, fire flared up Wednesday afternoon near the location of the leak that sparked an inferno at Chevron’s 2,900-acre refinery Monday evening, as hundreds of locals sought medical treatment for eye and respiratory complaints related to the fire.
Throngs of Richmond residents, upset and ready to be heard, gathered at a town hall meeting held by Chevron on Tuesday night, following the refinery fire that cloaked Richmond in a dark cloud of particulates the night before.
Richmond residents this morning woke up to the lingering smell of burnt oil from Chevron’s Richmond Refinery, which caught fire last night following a leak. Firefighters and engineers at the plant put the main fire out early this morning, and Chevron reported that its engineers were monitoring a controlled burn as a safety measure to contain pressure.
At a press conference held Monday night, Richmond Refinery General Manager Nigel Hearne told journalists that firefighters were still fighting the blaze at the plant, and that a small leak in the diesel processing unit had grown and caught fire.
Early this evening, Richmond residents reported hearing sirens and the flames were visible from miles. The rising plumes were dark black, nearly blotting out the sun as they drifted eastward. They were as dark and looked as dense as thunderclouds in certain spots.
When he was 20 years old, John Roulac had no idea that the pain and sluggishness he was experiencing while shooting hoops would lead him to found Nutiva, one of the fastest-growing health food companies in the United States, which will soon move into a new warehouse in Point Richmond and expects to hire about 100 local workers.
On Friday, 16 West County high school students completed a paid summer internship program at Doctors Medical Center and were awarded certificates of proficiency by the Contra Costa County Office of Education. The five-week Summer Youth Employment Program acquainted students with the kind of work done in different hospital departments such as human resources, food and nutrition, the sleep lab and the cancer center.