The Bay Area Air District logo. The Air District is tasked with regulating stationary sources of air pollution in the nine counties that surround San Francisco Bay: Alameda, Contra Costa, Marin, Napa, San Francisco, San Mateo, Santa Clara, southwestern Solano, and southern Sonoma counties. (Bay Area Air District via Bay City News)Bay Area Air District/Bay Area Air District via Bay City NewsA preliminary health assessment from the Bay Area Air District released this week found that residents living near the Chevron refinery in Richmond face a higher risk of cancer and other diseases.If the results of the assessment are confirmed, Chevron would have to implement a plan to reduce the health risks or install pollution controls at the refinery.Article continues below this adThe Bay Area Air District is the agency responsible for protecting the air quality in the region. In 2017, the district adopted a new rule that said facilities that could pose high health impacts will be subject to a preliminary health assessment to quantify the potential health risks.The air district identified the Chevron refinery as one such facility and hence commissioned the preliminary health assessment.Experts from the agency then conducted multiple studies and collected samples between 2017 and 2025 to prepare the assessment, which was released Tuesday.The assessment estimated that the refinery poses a maximum cancer risk of 37 in a million, which means that 37 additional people out of a million could develop cancer over a lifetime of exposure to the air pollution caused by the refinery.Article continues below this adThis is more than the district’s threshold of 10 in a million, beyond which facilities must implement a plan to reduce the health risk, according to a news release from the agency.Risk of other non-cancer disease from short-term exposure was also found to be beyond the district’s threshold.The report states that most of the cancer risk is due to benzo[a]pyrene, a pollutant that escapes through small leaks at pipe fittings and storage tanks, while the short-term health risks are mostly because of benzene from the refinery’s wastewater treatment system.The district is now requesting public input and will modify the risk estimates based on the community’s comments.Article continues below this ad”These findings give the Richmond community clear, science-based information about the health risks from refinery air pollution emissions,” Philip Fine, executive officer of the Bay Area Air District, said in the news release. “Community input is essential before we finalize this assessment because the people who live closest to the refinery have the most at stake.”If the results of the preliminary health assessment hold after reviewing public comments, Chevron will be required to implement a plan to reduce pollution, or to install best available pollution control, the district’s news release said.”The Air District’s own analysis acknowledges that the assumptions driving most of its cancer-risk estimate may overstate actual refinery emissions,” said Ross Allen, a spokesperson for Chevron.”We agree and have already found that the assessment includes equipment that is no longer operating and assumptions that do not reflect actual refinery conditions. These issues need to be resolved before this preliminary estimate is treated as an accurate model of community health risk,” Allen added.Article continues below this adIn June 2025, the district reached an agreement with Chevron on a new air pollution monitoring system at the Richmond refinery to better monitor hydrogen sulfide, a smelly and potentially dangerous gas.Chevron also agreed to pay a fine of $100,000 for insufficient monitoring of the chemical at the time.Then, in December 2025, the district slapped a fine of $900,000 on Chevron after the company failed to make upgrades to its pollution monitoring systems as mandated by a district audit.Responding to Tuesday’s preliminary health assessment, Richmond Mayor Eduardo Martinez said in a separate news release that the report provides a quantitative basis for preexisting public sentiment.Article continues below this ad”As a city, we will do everything within our power and ability to ensure that any corporation operating within our city limits does so with environmental and social responsibility,” he said.Access our new app with ad-free reading, curated maps and more.GET IT NOWThe Bay Area Air District will hold a community meeting to explain the report’s findings and the procedure for submitting public comment on Sept. 21 at 5:30 p.m. at the Richmond Memorial Auditorium & Convention Center.Community members can send in public comments on this issue until Nov. 23.Article continues below this adCopyright © 2026 Bay City News, Inc. All rights reserved. Republication, rebroadcast or redistribution without the express written consent of Bay City News, Inc. is prohibited. Bay City News is a 24/7 news service covering the greater Bay Area.
