To tap new energy resources, Chevron is now operating in more
difficult and isolated areas than ever before. We are committed
to seeing that new projects are developed in an environmentally
sound manner and that existing operations continue to
reduce their environmental impacts.
Continuous Improvement Through World-Class Standards
Chevron's comprehensive environmental
management system drives continuous
improvement across our operations. Our
design standards for new capital projects
require consideration of environmental
aspects and resource conservation. New
projects must avoid continuous gas flaring
and venting and must incorporate reinjection
of produced water where feasible.
In addition, we are systematically implementing
performance standards at our
existing operations to minimize emissions,
discharges and waste and to promote
responsible waste management practices.
For instance, our Alba North platform in
the North Sea implemented a multiyear
project to test and demonstrate the feasibility
of a new technology to further clean
water that is pumped out of a well with
oil. This produced water is separated from
the oil and then typically discharged into
the sea. At Alba, the new process reduced
the concentration of oil in the produced
water discharge from 27 milligrams per
liter (mg/L) to 9.6 mg/L, which is below the
regulatory limit of 30 mg/L. In 2008, we
also piloted a new reinjection process at
Alba that further reduced oil loading from
these discharges.
Conserving Water Resources
Chevron operates eight refineries across
the globe. Four of these refineries have
put technologies in place to use treated
effluent from the local municipality to meet
their demand for water. Approximately
one-fourth of the total water used by our
refineries is supplied by such reclaimed
wastewater (an estimated municipal effluent
volume of about 45,000 cubic meters
per day). We are now assessing corporatewide
water consumption and potential
water treatment and reuse technologies at all of our refineries to identify new recycling
opportunities and options to further
reduce our use of fresh water.
Barrow Island will be the site of natural gas
processing and storage facilities associated
with the proposed Gorgon project off the
coast of Western Australia. Once construction
begins, water will be needed for dust
suppression and to provide potable water
for the construction workforce. Water
requirements will total approximately 1,500
to 2,000 cubic meters per day. However,
there are no sustainable freshwater sources
on Barrow Island adequate to meet operational
needs, and the scarce resources
that are present provide crucial ecological benefits.
Thus, the project team is incorporating
the use of a reverse osmosis system to
desalinate seawater and produce fresh water,
as well as reuse and recycling processes
where possible to minimize water required.
Working with stakeholders, Chevron conducted
several studies demonstrating that
disposal into the ocean of the brine generated
by reverse osmosis will have minimal
effect on Barrow Island and its surrounding
waters. These studies included both toxicity
tests of simulated whole effluents and
literature reviews of other studies of marine
impacts of desalination. The results validate
that the project's proposed brine disposal
method is environmentally sound.
Supporting Biodiversity and Healthy Ecosystems
Some of Chevron's international concessions
are located in or adjacent to a protected area as defined by the World
Conservation Monitoring Centre's World
Database on Protected Areas. Chevron has
a long history of operating in the vicinity of
ecologically sensitive areas.
Along a 1.9-mile (3-km) stretch of beach
adjacent to Chevron's operations in
Malongo, Angola, lies a major nesting area
for olive ridley sea turtles, an internationally
listed endangered species. We initiated
conservation efforts in 2000 and improved
protection techniques in recent years with
the use of geographic information systems
and global positioning system technology.
In addition, we hired and trained local
fishermen from nearby communities to
help monitor and protect the nesting
turtles and their eggs. In Soyo, sea turtles
are fitted with satellite tracking devices
to help us better understand the turtles'
use of the area and understand the potential
impact on the turtles of the Angola
LNG (liquefied natural gas) project's construction
and operations. The activity of
the turtles can be viewed at SeaTurtle.org.
Chevron responded to community concerns
regarding safe consumption of fish
from Cabinda Bay. Fishing in that area is
an important commercial and subsistence
resource. Following public concerns over
fish quality, our local business unit initiated
a program to sample fish tissue for
potential toxins. Now in the program's third
year, the lab analyses have consistently demonstrated that commonly consumed
fish are safe to eat and contaminant levels
are within safety limits set by the U.S. Food
and Drug Administration for commercially
sold fish.
Chevron completed the Environmental,
Social and Health Impact Assessment
for a seismic survey to be undertaken in
Lawachara National Park in Bangladesh in
support of potential natural gas exploration
and production. The assessment identified
potential concerns and recommended mitigation
methods, such as limited work hours,
worker training and waste management,
to make sure the preliminary exploration
activities did not adversely affect the natural
wildlife and vegetation around the area.
The International Union for Conservation of
Nature and Natural Resources led an environmental
monitoring team that conducted
pre- and post-activity surveys in the forest
and found no significant impact on the flora
and fauna of the forest.
Emergency Preparedness and Response
Our first priority is to prevent emergencies,
such as spills and releases, but we also
need to be prepared to respond to them
when they do occur. Whether emergencies
are caused by severe weather, natural
disasters, material failure or human error,
we strive to learn from each event and
improve our readiness.
Response During the 2008 Hurricane Season
After Hurricanes Katrina and Rita in 2005,
Chevron operations in the region revisited
their emergency preparedness plans and
made revisions based on lessons learned.
Chevron has a flexible, tiered emergency
response system that includes local
incident command teams supported by
corporate and external resources. These
teams were activated when Hurricanes
Gustav and Ike affected the U.S. Gulf Coast
and Caribbean islands in 2008. Regional
coordination was instrumental during
the 10-day closure of our Houston office
complexes. Closure decisions and communications
to our workforce were timely,
which resulted in no injuries. Flexibility and coordination were demonstrated when
emergency response contractors and
equipment that were on standby to aid
Chevron Pipe Line Co. were transferred to
help our Port Arthur lubricants plant after
post-storm reconnaissance determined the
need was greater at Port Arthur.
Maintaining business continuity to support
our customers and the communities where
we operate is a shared objective across
Chevron. Based on the lessons learned in
2005, many organizations had updated
their plans to promote the continuity of
critical business functions should such an
event recur. Collectively, these improvements
proved to be very valuable after
Hurricanes Gustav and Ike in 2008. For
instance, after Hurricane Katrina, warehouses
with generators and humanitarian
supplies were established on the Gulf
Coast. So in the aftermath of Gustav and
Ike, these resources were immediately
deployed to the affected areas, and we were
able to effectively restore power at service
stations and furnish our employees with
various humanitarian supplies. Also, several
organizations implemented pre-planned
movement of critical operations and personnel
out of the Gulf region. Chevron Pipe
Line Co., for example, has a secondary control
center in Midland, Texas, which served
as a home base during the response.
Product Stewardship
Product stewardship is one of the 13 elements
of Chevron's Operational Excellence
Management System. We identify, assess and manage potential environmental,
health and safety risks associated with a
product from conception to consumption,
recycling or disposal.
In 2008, we conducted product reviews
in Asia, Europe and North America. These
reviews examined potential life-cycle risks
of new products, such as biofuels, and
examined refinery projects that affect
our final products. In 2008, we began
implementation of a standardized product
stewardship process that was developed
in 2007. The process is expected to be
fully implemented in all of our Global
Downstream business units by the end
of 2009.
Unleaded gasoline enables motor vehicle
exhaust catalysts to operate as designed,
significantly reducing vehicle emissions and
potentially adverse health effects. In 2005,
as part of an industry initiative, Chevron
made a commitment to completely phase
out lead in motor gasoline. That commitment
was fulfilled everywhere in the world,
with one minor exception. In Egypt, there
are as yet limited suppliers of lead-free
gasoline. Leaded gasoline is still supplied
for some aviation engines that cannot be
modified to use unleaded gasoline.
Restoring Wetlands at a Former Oil Field
Formed in 1998, Chevron Environmental
Management Co. (CEMC) offers a wide
range of environmental liability management
services, which include site
assessment and remediation; health,
environmental
and safety due diligence;
onshore and offshore facilities decommissioning;
and well abandonment. CEMC
strives to develop the best end-of-life
solutions for company assets, such as
beneficial reuse and not just regulatory
closure.
At Guadalupe Dunes on the Central
California coast in the United States,
CEMC restored or created five wetlands
and remediated more than 20 acres
(8 hectares) of beach habitat at the
site of a former oil field, which operated
until the mid-1990s. The site is
the largest remaining intact natural
dune-lagoon complex in California
and is registered as a National Natural
Landmark.
Threatened and endangered
plants and animal species as well as
many species of special concern call the
dunes home. In three of the restored
wetlands, the California red-legged frog,
which is on the federal threatened-
species list, was observed.
Updated: May 2009