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E-mail StoryRefinery environmental report released
| Friday, Jun 27 2008 10:29 AM
Last Updated: Friday, Jun 27 2008 7:46 PM
A new report on the Big West of California refinery expansion shows two hotly debated chemicals carry about the same risks to the community but a third option would have significantly fewer hazards.
Big West's "Clean Fuels Project" would allow the facility to nearly double gasoline production and increase diesel output by 60 percent without increasing crude oil coming into the facility.
The refinery would add equipment to convert an intermediary petroleum stream, called gas oil, into transportation fuel. Currently the refinery can't convert all its gas oil to fuel so it sells the product to other refineries in the Los Angeles and San Francisco areas.
Big West's parent company, Flying J, said when it bought the refinery from Shell Oil in 2005 that an expansion would be needed to ensure the facility's long-term viability.
The project is expected to cost about $700 million.
The Kern County Planning Commission must approve a conditional use permit for additional storage tanks and a zone variance for equipment that will exceed height requirements.
The project also requires an air permit from the San Joaquin Valley Air Pollution Control District and a separate environmental permit from the U.S. Environmental Protection Agency.
The expansion would create about 100 new jobs at the refinery paying an average of about $70,000 a year, double the facility's property taxes from about $1.5 million to $3 million annually, and create 1,200 construction jobs, refinery officials say.
Opponents have raised concerns about the use of a controversial chemical called modified hydrofluoric acid, as well as increased air pollution and truck traffic on Rosedale Highway.
A copy of the Big West environmental impact report is expected to be available for review at the Kern County Planning Department, 2700 M St., Suite 100, Bakersfield.
Public comments on the project will be accepted through Aug. 11. Comments should be mailed to the Planning Department at the address above.
Planning staff will also hold informational workshops on the report prior to a public hearing and vote by the Kern County Planning Commission to approve or deny the project.
The public hearing is scheduled to be 7 p.m. Sept. 25.
Photos:
Big West of California refinery on Rosedale Highway.
Tanker trucks line up to enter Big West of California refinery on Rosedale Highway.
Big West of California refinery.
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Big West could boost its gas and diesel output using equipment that doesn’t require either of the acids at the center of recent controversy, according to the report released Friday.
But it’s unclear whether the alternative would be acceptable to Big West.
Big West officials were out of town or on vacation and not available to comment Friday. They did release a statement saying they look forward to sharing the benefits of the project.
Project opponents said they needed time to read the 3,000-page document before weighing in.
A NEW OPTION
“Alternative D,” as it’s called in the report, would convert gas oil into gasoline and diesel by building a new processing unit similar to one currently operating at the refinery. Not only would it reduce hazards from toxic chemicals but it would also reduce air pollution and greenhouse gases and create less odor, the report said.
“It has the least environmental impacts,” said Kern County Planning Department Division Chief Lorelei Oviatt. “We’re very interested in what the public thinks about this alternative.”
Refining experts hired by the county thought up the alternative.
The Kern County Planning Department could recommend the project be approved using Alternative D but Oviatt said staff has not yet decided what it will suggest.
The option has drawbacks. Because the equipment is geared toward diesel production, the alternative would mean more diesel output and less gasoline than proposed in the original expansion plans.
Refinery officials have said that equipment needed for the original proposal has already been ordered, so the company could take a financial hit.
BENEFITS, DRAWBACKS
The new report is a follow-up to an initial environmental document released last year but found inadequate due to lack of information on the hazardous chemical hydrofluoric acid.
The refinery has since said it will use a safer form of the chemical, called modified hydrofluoric acid, or modified HF. But a local citizens group, unions and state Sen. Dean Florez, D-Shafter, have pushed for sulfuric acid, which is used in similar processes at other refineries.
A comparison of both chemicals in the environmental report found the risks of using either acid to be nearly the same, though sulfuric acid may carry slightly more impacts.
A disastrous accident involving sulfuric acid could create an acid mist cloud affecting areas up to 10 miles from the refinery, according to the report. Under the same circumstances, a modified HF spill could create a vapor cloud capable of traveling up to 6.5 miles from the facility.
An HF cloud is known to cause serious burns to the lungs and skin and exposure can be fatal. A sulfuric acid mist can also cause severe skin and lung burns.
Sulfuric acid could create more air pollution than modified HF.
“Both acids have impacts and we have to evaluate how much risk the community can take on in terms of the benefits this project will bring,” Oviatt said.
By contrast, “Alternative D’s” worst-case scenario is a fire or explosion that could impact areas within 2 miles of the facility. Members of Bakersfield Citizens Against Hydrofluoric Acid, a group of residents, police officers, firefighters and nurses who have pushed for sulfuric acid, said Friday they just received a copy of the document and would comment early next week.
OTHER IMPACTS
The report also looked at the possibility of building a new refinery in Elk Hills or the Mojave Desert but ruled that out since it would cost $6 to $7 billion, more than 10 times the price of the expansion.
Also in the report were details about impacts to air quality, climate change, traffic, water and endangered and sensitive species.
One section explains how Big West plans to reduce greenhouse gas emissions by planting 1,000 trees and set aside $6 million to curb emissions at the facility and in the community.
Bill Chadick, the refinery health, safety and environmental director, said earlier this week that staff from Attorney General Jerry Brown’s office had approved of the company’s climate change mitigations.
PUBLIC PROCESS
The report’s release starts a 45-day comment period that culminates with a public hearing before the Kern County Planning Commission on Sept. 25.
The Planning Commission will vote to approve or deny the project as proposed. It can approve a project on the condition that “Alternative D” or sulfuric acid be used.
Big West has lobbied county planning staff to skip the Planning Commission and go straight to the Board of Supervisors for a decision, citing a November deadline to use multi-million dollar air pollution credits to offset expansion costs.
Zoning ordinances allow circumvention of the Planning Commission but county planning staff have decided against allowing it in this case.
“Given the kind of interest in this project and the importance of this project,” Oviatt said, “we don’t that’s appropriate.”