Update, 4 p.m.: In an email sent to Contra Costa County Supervisor John Gioia at about 3:15 p.m today, Nicole Heath, director of the Hazardous Materials Programs at Contra Costa County’s health department, provided further details about an incident at the Richmond Terminal on Sunday.
Heath wrote, “The P66 Richmond Terminal experienced a pressure buildup in a DOT (Department of Transportation) transport vehicle. The tank truck offloaded ethanol at the P66 Richmond Terminal, then proceeded to load renewable diesel into the tank truck. During loading, the tanker’s pressure relief valve was triggered, causing damage to the loading rack’s roof structure.” Heath added that, according to P66, there was no off-site release of material and that Contra Costa Health Hazmat has scheduled an inspection on Sept. 9 and will follow up with more testing as needed.
The incident was not required to be reported to Contra Costa Health and did not violate the Hazardous Materials Notification Policy, Heath concluded.
Original story: Phillips 66 has alerted the West Contra Costa Fire Safe Council that it’s investigating a pressure build-up incident that occurred at the Richmond Terminal at about 10 a.m. Sunday.
Fire council chair Soheila Bana, a Richmond City Council member, said in an email to the WCCFS that David Schoenthal, on behalf of the Rodeo-based refinery, said via email that the company responded to the incident and that “all employees and contractors have been accounted for and there is no risk to the community.”
Schoenthal, a member of the WCCFS advisory board, said there was no fire, but the Richmond Fire Department responded to the site at 1300 Canal Blvd.
A “build-up” incident at a refinery occurs when pressure within refinery equipment, such as pipes, vessels, or tanks, rises to unsafe levels, exceeding the system’s design limits. If not addressed promptly, ruptures, leaks, or explosions can occur. The terminal facility isn’t a refinery and no further details about where the build-up occurred was provided.
Inspections were scheduled to take place earlier this morning.
The refinery has been in the process of converting the Rodeo facility to serve what is said is a growing demand for renewable fuels.
This is a developing story and we will update it when further details are available.
