When apprised of this distinction, a Chevron spokesperson, barely suppressing his excitement, exclaimed “Yes!” “We trained hard for this event, and although there are a lot of young competitors out there, our seasoned players were able to outsmart them again, showing that age can still trump strength. This is a victory not only for Chevron-Texaco, but also for the citizens of Richmond who have always been there to support us, even when times were tough.” The Mayor of Richmond will present Chevron with a commendation for achieving First Place in this hard fought competition at the next City Council meeting.

If you go to the web page http://www.epa.gov/tri/, you can find who the polluters are and the released pollutants in each zip code.

Oakland Tribune

Refineries Bay Area's top polluters
Report says Chevron's Richmond facility is main culprit; overall California pollution dropped 22 percent in 2001
By Douglas Fischer
STAFF WRITER

Tuesday, July 01, 2003 - A nationwide inventory of pollution shows that refining industries continue to lead the Bay Area, with Chevron Products Co.'s Richmond facility alone responsible for 1.5 million pounds of toxic chemicals dumped into the region's air, water and land in 2001.

The annual survey of polluters by the U.S. Environmental Protection Agency, released Monday, found overall pollution in California in 2001 dropped 22 percent from the previous year, ahead of the national trend that saw a 15.5 percent decline.

State ranks 27th

The report, based on numbers submitted to the agency by business and industry, placed California 27th among states and U.S. territories, with 1,617 facilities reporting 60.7 million pounds of toxic chemical releases for the year.

"It's obviously good news for California," said William L. Ruckeyser, assistant secretary for California Environmental Protection Agency. "Without unduly claiming that all our problems have been solved, we have already moved a long way down the path that many other industrialized states would like to be moving down.

"Every ton of pollution that doesn't get produced is one more ton that we will not have to deal with in some sort of difficult and expensive manner."

The survey comes with some caveats: the totals give no indication of whether facilities with high levels are out of compliance with federal, state or local rules.

And not all pollution is included. In the Bay Area, for instance, refineries may top the list. But their pollution -- primarily air emissions -- make up just 3 percent of the region's air pollution once cars, trucks and buses are included.

"The Bay Area economy runs on our fuels, which are the cleanest fuels in the world," said Dennis Bolt, Bay Area representative of the Western States Petroleum Association. "To make those fuels, we do have emissions."

In the Bay Area, refineries -- all in Contra Costa County -- held five of the top-10 slots for facilities with the largest discharges, including the top three. Together, they accounted for almost 4 million pounds of pollution in 2001.

The U.S. Pipe and Foundry Co. in Union City was in fourth place with491,000 pounds, according to the U.S. EPA's inventory, with New United Motor Manufacturing Inc. in Fremont fifth with483,000 pounds.

Rounding out the top 10 was C&H Sugar in Crockett in seventh place with 296,000 pounds, Owens Corning in Santa Clara in eighth with 183,000 pounds and Raychem-Tyco Electronics in Menlo Park 10th with 132,000 pounds.

Nevada top polluter

Nationally, Nevada led the list, with 783 million pounds of toxic substances released in 2001 -- almost all from mining. Utah was second, with 767 million pounds.

American Samoa was last, with 6,920 pounds reported in 2001 -- all in the form of air pollution.

Contact Douglas Fischer at dfischer@angnewspapers.com .