Point neighbors say oil 'smell' strong hours before Chevron Wharf spill was reported

POINT RICHMOND - Neighbors of the Chevron Wharf have reported on Nextdoor yesterday and today that they smelled oil as early as 12:30 p.m. Tuesday - hours before official reports say the leak of many hundreds of gallons of petroleum into the bay near Keller Beach began. 

And in several cases, people said they called to report the strong petroleum odor to Bay Area air quality officials.

The official cause of that smell, as reported by Contra Costa County Supervisor John Gioia, was a leaking pipeline that spewed five gallons per minute into the bay for nearly two hours, beginning at 2:40 p.m. Tuesday.

In a Richmond Pulse newspaper story today, Gioia said Chevron didn't do enough to notify the community and that there was not information given.

The link to the full Pulse story can be found here: 

Chevron Oil Spill Is Under Investigation

View of the Chevron oil spill Tuesday

(Photo by Denis Perez-Bravo, Richmond Pulse)

Public Shore, parking open at Craneway

   RICHMOND - The public shore and ferry parking area across the street from the Craneway Pavilion reopened in early January after being closed to the public.

Walkway open again to the public

     Security guards had roped off the parking lot - except for use by ferry patrons - and also kept the public from walking on the shoreline.

     The official reason given was the state's stay-at-home order. Any pedestrians who walked past the yellow caution tape were ordered off the property.

     But without fanfare or public announcement, the yellow caution tape, orange traffic cones and barriers slowly disappeared over a period of days. So did the security guards.

     For the last two weeks public access has been restored and is being enjoyed by cyclists, hikers and fisherman.

     The Craneway Pavilion is still blocked off from public access and ready for use as an emergency overflow hospital facility.

Craneway remains ready for use as an overflow medical facility/hospital