RSS Feed
Print Story
E-mail Story
History of the Big West refinery
| Wednesday, Feb 13 2008 6:11 PM
Last Updated: Friday, Feb 15 2008 2:43 PM
1932: Refinery opens as Mohawk Oil Refinery.
1975: It’s purchased by Reserve Oil & Gas.
1980: Getty Oil takes over.
1984: Texaco buys it.
1998: Texaco and Shell agree to operate it as Equilon Enterprises LLC.
2001: The Federal Trade Commission requires Texaco to divest its interest following its merger with Chevron. Shell continues to operate it.
2003: Shell announces plans to shut it down.
2004: California attorney general urges Shell to sell, not close, it.
2005: It’s purchased by Flying J Inc. and operates under subsidiary Big West of California.
April 2007: Controversy breaks out over plans to expand the refinery and use a dangerous chemical. Big West later says it will use a safer form of the chemical. The county fines the facility for venting gases into the air that made people sick.
May 2007: County cancels public hearings on the expansion until the environmental report is reviewed by refinery experts.
Sources: Big West of California, news archives