A massive blaze that damaged part of the Chevron Refinery in Richmond last week has already resulted in initial legal proceedings.
The fire happened on August 6 and caused minor injuries to five workers at the plant, as well as sending hundreds of nearby residents to hospital with varying complaints including respiratory issues.
Mark Griffon from the US Chemical Safety Board (CSB), who is investigating the incident, said:
The information gathered so far indicates the incident had a serious impact on the community.
Area hospitals told CSB investigators that they attribute hundreds of emergency room visits by community members to reported effects of the release and fire, with symptoms ranging from anxiety to respiratory distress.
At the time of the fire breaking out, Chevron operations personnel were in the process of evaluating a reported leak with the assistance of Chevron Fire Department personnel.
The fire broke out in a ‘sidecut’ pipe attached to the Chevron Refinery #4 Unit, used to distil crude oil into various fractions.
Chevron wrote in an early report released late last week that the incident involved equipment associated with the Atmospheric Distillation column.
Claims for property damage and medical costs
Since the initial fire was brought under control, Chevron has established a claims process to compensate nearby properties and residents for any medical and property expenses incurred as a result of the fire.
As well as a telephone hotline, Chevron also set up a claims centre in a community centre in Richmond. Chevron spokesperson Melissa Ritchie said that so far there has been around 8,000 claims made by phone and 1,600 claims filed in person.
Despite this, one attorney has already brought legal proceedings against Chevron, suing on behalf of nine local residents in respect of what he described as Chevron’s “negligence”.
He claimed in a press conference that his office has already be contacted by more than 1,000 people seeking advice from residents, many of which have been concerned that filing a claim with Chevron would affect their rights to further legal action at a later date.
Speaking to the California-based Mercury News, Ms. Ritchie was clear: "Residents do not give up their right to file a lawsuit if they receive a claim settlement from Chevron.”
She added: "When we receive lawsuits we will review each case based on the merits of their claim and handle as appropriate through the legal process."
“Workers might have been killed”
Chemical Safety Board investigators meanwhile said that workers were lucky not to have been killed.
Dan Tillema said:
Witness testimony collected by CSB investigators indicates that a large number of workers were engulfed in the vapor cloud.
These workers might have been killed or severely injured, had they not escaped the cloud as the release rate escalated and the cloud ignited, shortly thereafter.”CSB Chairperson Dr. Rafael Moure-Eraso added: “Monday’s fire was a near-disaster for refinery personnel. The circumstances warrant a full and independent federal investigation to determine the root causes. Although fortunately no workers were killed, the overall impact of the incident ranks it as among the most serious U.S. refinery incidents in recent years.