Wednesday, February 10, 2021

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)