The century-old relationship between Chevron and the city of Richmond is on a new path to strengthen the company and the community.
Chevron and the city of Richmond, California, share a rich history that stretches back more than a century. The refinery sits on about 2,900 acres (1,174 ha) 15 miles (24 km) northeast of San Francisco and was built before Richmond was incorporated in 1905. Richmond then was a small but growing industrial area of about 2,000 people. Today, it's a city with a diverse economy of industrial, technological and maritime businesses and 103,000 residents.
Together—through booms and recessions, 19 U.S. presidents, and economic and social changes—the relationship between the refinery and the people of Richmond has evolved. Over the past two decades, there has been a growing interest in refinery activities. Some citizens have expressed concerns about insufficient communication on issues such as community support, emissions and flaring.
"We listened to those concerns," said Mike Coyle, refinery general manager, "and in 2008, we began efforts to strengthen local relationships. This is helping us overcome challenges that affect our business and the community."
We commissioned an independent nonprofit organization to interview community leaders. Coyle said the results proved enlightening. Among the findings: Citizen groups and nonprofit leaders felt that our community interactions decreased and that people were unaware of our long history of involvement. Many wanted us to be more active in helping the city address social and economic problems.
As a result, we are in the midst of an effort to renew and strengthen our relationships. We meet regularly with residents and leaders, and based on their input, we've invested in job creation, public safety and K–12 education.
We also increased transparency. We responded to the call for information by creating public communications platforms, and for the first time in 30 years, we held an open house and tour to allow the community to see our operations for themselves. The community had the opportunity to engage with us directly, and we could clarify misconceptions about our operations.
Investing in Our Community
In West Contra Costa County, unemployment is more than 18 percent. Twenty-two percent of families in Richmond have incomes below the U.S. federal poverty level, and 40 percent of adults did not graduate from high school.
To help the community address these challenges, we granted $3.7 million in 2010 to nonprofits in Richmond and the county for education, youth leadership programs, economic development and job training. But our investment in the community goes beyond financial contributions.
"Support from Chevron and its volunteers comes with accountability and an expectation of mutual benefit," said Bruce Harter, superintendent of West Contra Costa Unified School District. "There's a deep connection between Chevron and our students. Working together on science, math, engineering and other programs, we're changing the student culture to raise expectations so that our students see college as the next step after high school."
Harter said program support instills a sense of optimism that can start with something as simple as new microscopes. Science teacher Catherine Vanier needed lab materials to teach cellular biology to her seventh grade students at Richmond's Lovonya DeJean Middle School. With the help of Chevron's Fuel Your School program and DonorsChoose.org, Vanier was able to buy the sorely needed supplies. In addition, the school received a $25,000 Chevron classroom grant. As a result, Chevron "has made a significant difference in the education of our students for years to come," Vanier said.
Our focus on supporting STEM (science, technology, engineering and math) education in California has resulted in more than 245,000 students and 3,900 teachers benefiting from our community programs in 2010.
Another priority that residents voiced was economic opportunity. Chevron responded by supporting nonprofit organizations that increase local employment.
For example, we awarded the nonprofit Stride Center a $211,000 grant in 2009 to create a job-training program. David Benjamin, once an unemployed high school dropout, now has a promising future in technology after receiving computer training from the center. "I wasn't doing too much with my life and was in and out of trouble," he explained. Now, he said, he'll be qualified for jobs in computer technical support and software installation.
Improving Operations
We continually strive to minimize air emissions and waste, use resources and energy efficiently, and minimize environmental impact.
The Richmond Advanced Recycled Expansion (RARE) Water Project is one example of our collaborative approach. In drought-prone California, fresh water has always been a valuable commodity. Population growth and stringent environmental regulations have increased its value. Water is also an essential component in oil refining, with each gallon of oil refined requiring one gallon of high-quality water. We are the San Francisco Bay Area's largest refinery and thus the largest water customer for the East Bay Municipal Utility District (EBMUD), requiring about 11 million gallons a day.
To reduce water use, the refinery and EBMUD completed a plant in 2010 to treat municipal wastewater for our steam-producing boilers. Each day, RARE sends 3.5 million gallons of treated wastewater to the refinery, in addition to the 4 million gallons of reclaimed water already used in the refining process. RARE saves enough drinking water to serve about a quarter of Richmond's population and could reduce severe rationing in future droughts. "This cooperative effort," said Lesa McIntosh, an elected board director of EBMUD, "will benefit water customers well into the future."
Refinery air emissions have been a source of concern for the community. By installing new technologies and running plants more efficiently, we have reduced regulated air emissions by 70 percent since the 1970s. A refinerywide flare-minimization program that began in 2007 has helped decrease flaring by more than 97 percent. As the region's largest refinery, the Richmond Refinery represents approximately 38 percent of oil refining capacity in the Bay Area but less than 1 percent of the volume of vented gas flared in 2009.
While we have made progress, there is still work to be done. "Reestablishing a strong relationship and trust won't happen overnight, and we are deeply committed to fulfilling that goal," Coyle said. "We've recently taken some significant steps, but this commitment is a marathon, not a sprint."
Updated: May 2011