“This
criminal case achieves our goals of holding Chevron accountable for their
conduct, protecting the public and ensuring a safer work environment at the
refinery,” Contra Costa District Attorney Mark Peterson said in a prepared
statement.
Chevron and
government investigators had both found that it was pipe corrosion that caused
a leak that sparked the August 6, 2012
fire. Both investigations determined that Chevron failed to replace the 40-year-old
pipe despite numerous warnings from its own inspectors.
At the time
of the accident, workers were reportedly in the process of repairing piping
connected to the still-operating distillation tower when the leak intensified,
and due to the high temperature of the material in the tower, in excess of 600
degrees Fahrenheit, the gas-oil immediately formed a large flammable vapor
cloud.
No fatalities
or serious injuries occurred, but the large noxious cloud resulted in about a
dozen refinery employees and scores of residents of the surrounding area being
hospitalized with respiratory problems and other ailments.
In January,
Chevron said it paid $10 million so far to settle over
23,300 claims connected to the blaze.
Before the
fire, the 2,900-acre facility, which is in the San Francisco Bay area, was
processing about 242,000 barrels of crude oil daily, with the end products
primarily being diesel and jet fuels, as well as gasoline. But after the blaze,
production of motor fuel at the facility was cut by over 50 percent.
Before the
accident, the Richmond refinery was processing 242,000 barrels of crude daily,
accounting for about 12 percent of the state’s 2.09 million barrels per day of
net capacity.
