Protecting People and the Environment
Over the years, many things have changed, but one thing has not: the Refinery's keen attention to environmental protection. At the Refinery, "protecting the people and the environment" is policy and not just lip service. While millions of dollars have been allotted each year for the many federal, state, and local government-mandated programs, it's where we've gone above and beyond the call of duty in protecting people and the environment of which we're proud.
Our preventative and proactive approach to avoiding problems in the first place has helped us achieve a glowing record of safety and effectiveness. Our corporate goal is zero environmental incidents.
Our preventative and proactive approach to avoiding problems in the first place has helped us achieve a glowing record of safety and effectiveness.
The El Segundo Refinery is a very unique facility because it is wedged between two residential communities on the Santa Monica Bay. Since many of our employees live in these communities, we are acutely aware of our location and have developed our programs and policies accordingly. We want to do the right thing to protect our neighbors, our employees and their families. In fact, the Refinery is a member of the Beach Cities Community Awareness and Emergency Response (CAER) group, whose purpose is to share best practices on preventing and responding to incidents, to educate the public, and to sponsor a telephone call-out system used for emergency notifications. In addition, our own on-site fire department not only conducts training for our staff but for neighboring city fire departments as well. We are constantly working to improve our efforts to protect the environment in which we live and work.
For example, Chevron's El Segundo Refinery is one of the few industrial facilities in the Los Angeles Basin to operate its own wastewater treatment facilities under federal permit. We treat both stormwater runoff and industrial wastewater. To protect the groundwater, we were the first refinery in the United States to adopt a standard for fitting our oil storage tanks with double bottoms.
In an effort to reduce air emissions and increase energy efficiency, Chevron's El Segundo Refinery built an $80 million Cogeneration facility that provides most of the electrical and steam power we require. We also have Regenerative Thermal Oxidizer plant that controls both odors and hydrocarbon emissions as we do our part to keep Southern California's air clean.
Nearly 80% of the water used in refinery processes and landscaping is recycled or reclaimed water which costs about the same as fresh water. Using reclaimed water helps our environment by significantly reducing the treated waste water discharged into the Santa Monica Bay.
Results We're Proud Of
- Flare emissions from plant startups and shutdowns and equipment malfunctions were reduced dramatically in 2002 with the Flareless Startup Project. Volatile organics, for example, were reduced by 57%.
- The Refinery completed the CARB 3 conversion ahead of schedule by almost a year to produce cleaner burning gasoline.
- The Refinery has reduced hazardous waste generation by approximately 50% since 1995.
- The Refinery recycles everything from laser toner cartridges to newspaper. Our current diversion rate is over 80%.
- The Refinery is a frequent recipient of the WRAP award (Waste Reduction Awards Program) from the California Integrated Waste Management Board.
- Chevron owns more double-hulled tankers than any other oil company in the world in order to prevent oil spills.
- 80% of the water used for Refinery processes and landscaping is reclaimed water.
- The Refinery is consistently ranked among the top five cleanest refineries in the country.