Chevron officials announced Thursday that a rotten egg odor reported in the area of its Richmond refinery two weeks ago came from a section of the facility’s flare system that was out of service for maintenance.
Residents began reporting the bad smell from the chemical hydrogen sulfide on the evening of Oct. 22.
Contra Costa County Supervisor John Gioia, who represents the area, said the release of the chemical “had serious consequences for our community (including nausea) and impacted residents in the Greater Richmond area, including El Cerrito, San Pablo and Pinole.”
Chevron officials said Thursday that their resulting investigation determined that the odor was a result of the flare system, and that they have isolated that part of the system after stopping the release, which emitted approximately 33,900 pounds of hydrogen sulfide and 1,620 pounds of ammonia over a 42-hour period.
Gioia, following the release, criticized what he said was an hourslong gap between when residents first reported the bad smell and when Chevron issued an alert through the county’s Community Warning System about the problem.
“I am very concerned about the four-hour gap between when the odors were traced to the refinery and when Chevron’s CWS alert went out,” Gioia said. “This needs to be investigated as part of the full investigation now underway.”
