ISSUES | Chevron and the Environment

Appeals Court Rules against Chevron on Environmental Impact Report

On April 26 the Appeals Court rejected Chevron's main claims.
The court found that the Environmental Impact Report was indeed flawed on the issues of heavier crude and greenhouse gasses. The judges did side with Chevron on the issue of the hydrogen pipeline.

This leaves the injunction standing, the project stopped and 1200 workers not working. The environmental groups, Asian Pacific Environmental Network, Communities for a Better Environment, and West County Toxics Coalition, have demonstrated a willingness to negotiate a way to restart the project and provide for the health of the community and environmental concerns, including taking some major steps at the request of Attorney General Brown's office. Thus far Chevron has refused to budge.

For more detail see:

Press release issued by groups participating in the suit

Environmental Groups accept offer to mediate

Contra Costa Times article

Chevron’s Move to Dirtier Oil:
One Richmond Worker’s Perspective

The California State Court of Appeals ruled against Chevron’s switch to refining dirtier, heavier oil at its Richmond refinery, citing violations of state environmental laws. This is a tremendous victory for Bay Area communities.

My name is James Walker. I live in Richmond and work for a local city agency. My mother immigrated here from Sweden in 1968 and our family has been here ever since. Fortunately, we don’t live next door to the refinery, but I can still see the smokestacks from my house.

Over the course of my life, I have seen far too many children and families suffering unnecessarily from the toxics in our air. Richmond children are hospitalized for asthma at twice the rate of children in the rest of the county. All of us are suffering the consequences of Chevron’s pollution, even those of us on the outskirts.

Is it any wonder that we suffer from these health problems? Chevron is in our backyards, pumping thousands of tons of toxics into the air each year. Chevron’s refinery alone is already responsible for 90% of industrial emissions in Richmond.

That’s why several years ago, when Chevron announced its plans to expand the refinery to process dirtier, heavier crude, workers and community members joined together in protest. The proposed expansion would likely have exposed our communities to even higher levels of toxic pollution. So we made our voices heard by packing city council meetings and courtrooms, putting our stories front and center.

It’s Richmond’s working class and communities of color that are hardest hit by Chevron’s toxic emissions. Nearly 80% of people living within one mile of the Chevron refinery are people of color and the majority are working class. So it comes as no surprise that Chevron’s strategy has been to divide these communities – pitting workers against communities of color, prospective jobs against community health.

These are false choices.

How dare Chevron ask us to choose between our health and the health of future generations, a clean environment, and much-needed jobs? Which among these would Chevron executives choose? We have the right to breathe clean air.

We have the right to raise our children in a clean, healthy environment. And we commend the California State Court of Appeals for recognizing this.

Our victory yesterday shows what’s possible when workers and communities stand together and demand more of our politicians and the corporations that operate in our backyards. Together, we sent a message that Chevron cannot continue profiting at the expense of our health. It’s time for all of us to embrace a cleaner, greener future.

This victory is just the beginning. In coming weeks, I will continue to work in coalition with the Asian Pacific Environmental Network, Communities for a Better Environment, and West County Toxics Coalition toward building healthy, green communities for all. I hope you will join us.