On September 16, 2003, the Richmond City Council, meeting as the Richmond Reuse Authority, will consider whether to accept the deed to Point Molate, which consists of 290 acres (415 acres, including water) of prime waterfront property with spectacular views. Without question, the property would easily be worth a half a billion dollars to Richmond if it weren’t for the ChevronTexaco refinery. The existence of ammonia tanks nearly two miles away caused the Navy’s Environmental Impact Statement (EIS) to conclude that residential development would be incompatible with the refinery. In the current market, residential use is far and away the highest and best use of the land, and a half a billion dollars could go a long way in Richmond. Never mind that other neighbors, including residents of Point Richmond live within the same Alternate Release Scenario (ARS) radius and are not protected by a 700-foot high ridge. Because residential use was out of the question, the Navy subsequently declined to clean up its residual contamination to residential standards.

This no-cost gift made Chevron ecstatic, and the subsequent depression of the installation’s potential value made it a ripe target for a potential ChevronTexaco takeover. Unwilling to participate in the bidding with other conventional developers and coveting the property more than ever, ChevronTexaco has been trying to make an end run by invoking 9/11, security and potential terrorism to further restrict uses and further depress potential values.

The irrationality and deviousness of Chevron’s current strategy, which includes invoking the FBI and U.S. Coast Guard, can be illustrated by the stories that follow.

Point San Pablo Yacht Harbor is two miles north of the Richmond-San Rafael Bridge, past the former Point Molate Navy Fuel Depot and surrounded by ChevronTexaco Refinery Property. Earlier this year, a resident of Point San Pablo Yacht Harbor, who is a habitual early riser, observed four Middle-Eastern looking men driving in to the isolated harbor in the pre-dawn darkness, apparently to rendez-vous with a Russian sailor who was making his sailboat ready.  

A mite suspicious, our early morning riser asked if he could help them with something. “We’re just going fishing,” they replied. Noting that they had plenty of cameras but no fishing gear, he inquired as to what they were going to use for gear and bait. “Don’t you have some around here?” they responded.

Our observant citizen then promptly called the Coast Guard, who showed up later to seize the vessel heading toward the ChevronTexaco Refinery’s northern coastline. The entire group was taken away at gunpoint. There was no press coverage.

The moral of this true but previously unreported story is that the ChevronTexaco Refinery is about as secure as a colander. It was only by the quick thinking and action of an alert law-abiding and patriotic citizen that this apparent reconnaissance episode was interrupted and aborted. If the citizen had not lived “24-7” in the area adjacent to the refinery, the outcome may not have been as positive. If the Point San Pablo Yacht Harbor area had been, as ChevronTexaco desires for Point Molate, limited to daytime use by severely restricted types of businesses, the story might have ended differently.

Whether in an urban inner city or on the undeveloped perimeter of a refinery, the concept of “eyes on the street, “ is, bar none, the best security available. ChevronTexaco’s recent demands for no development on the San Pablo peninsula, and their previous demands for no residential use and no overnight use are simply and totally irrational. Either they have a nefarious hidden agenda, or they take us for fools.

ChevronTexaco also continues to try to make a case that the City of Richmond should somehow be responsible for their security. ChevronTexaco is a $100 billion profit-making corporation, and the City of Richmond is barely a $100 million municipal corporation. That’s an order of magnitude of 1,000. ChevronTexaco makes a $6 billion annual profit, while the City of Richmond is currently running a $6 million deficit. Just this month, Reuters reported, “ChevronTexaco Corp. , the No. 2 U.S. oil company, on Friday said its quarterly profit quadrupled as refining and marketing margins improved and gas and oil prices rose.” Despite continuing pleas, the City of Richmond has gotten virtually no Homeland Security funding to assist in protecting what California’s Anti-terrorist Asset List ranks as “the most critical energy asset in northern California,” and ChevronTexaco has taken no truly effective steps on its own to secure the Richmond refinery.

How in the world can ChevronTexaco expect the City of Richmond to protect it from terrorists when Richmond clearly can’t afford it? And it’s not as if ChevronTexaco is contributing to the challenge. The Richmond Refinery is as porous as a sieve. Anyone intent on causing havoc, or even a catastrophe, could walk in with a brick of C-4, a .50 caliber rifle (the sale of which is now outlawed in the unincorporated parts of Contra Costa County – but not in Richmond), or maybe even a tube of glue for a control room door. Just last week, a 20-year old “transient” trespasser apparently wandered around the refinery for an unknown period of time and was reported and nabbed only after he left the property. And this happened on 9-11, the one time you would think the refinery would be under enhanced security. According to the press, the trespasser was seen on refinery property at 8:00 PM but was not arrested until 12:30 AM, over four hours later. The Contra Costa Times stories on this incident are copied at the end of this E-FORUM.

The Point Molate property that ChevronTexaco is busting a gut to keep undeveloped is still owned by the Navy, and will be until the middle of next week, if ChevronTexaco doesn’t get a court order or an order from the Bush administration to stop it. Interestingly, during the recent Navy tenure, Point Molate has been and continues to be totally deserted and unoccupied – apparently the way ChevronTexaco wants it to stay. During that period of time, according to Navy sources, ChevronTexaco has not once complained of lack of security and has not requested assistance from the Navy in securing ChevronTexaco’s common perimeter with Point Molate. Perhaps if some folks were living at Point Molate, they might have at least reported the transient who later penetrated ChevronTexaco’s unguarded and unsecured perimeter.

Let’s hope that the citizens of Richmond and the City’s leadership see through this scam and insist that ChevronTexaco keeps its sticky paws off of Point Molate and that the corporation dips into its own profits to provide an acceptable level of security for its own property – and for the residents of Richmond.

The following stories are from the Contra Costa Times:

Man cited, released for trespassing (Richmond, Contra Costa Times East Bay Roundup, September 12, 2003)

Authorities cited and released a man Thursday after detaining him on suspicion of trespassing on ChevronTexaco Texaco refinery property.

Christopher Henson, 20, a transient whose last known address was in Tennessee, was arrested about 12:30 a.m. Thursday, said Richmond police Sgt. Enos Johnson.

The FBI sent agents to interview Henson, but they did not detain him, police said.

The incident was regarded as suspicious because refineries have been mentioned as terrorist targets, the incident coincided with the anniversary of the Sept. 11 attacks and protesters were at the refinery Tuesday.

Someone saw a stranger on refinery property about 8 p.m. Wednesday, Johnson said. Employees and police searched but did not find the man. A Richmond officer later detained Henson as he walked near the Richmond-San Rafael Bridge toll plaza.

Refinery spokesman Dean O'Hair said he could not discuss plant security but stressed that the refinery has a security plan that has been reviewed since the Sept. 11 attacks.

"I think what's important here is that people understand that we take security very seriously at this facility," O'Hair said.

Authorities to search refinery after arrest of trespasser (Contra Costa Times, September 11, 2003)

Authorities plan to search the ChevronTexaco Texaco refinery today after police arrested a young man suspected of trespassing there late last night.

The FBI has interviewed the arrestee, Christopher Hanson, 20, who was described as a transient, said Richmond police Sgt. Enos Johnson.

At least one witness reported Hanson had a backpack when he was initially seen on or near the refinery.

But Hanson did not have a backpack when Richmond police arrested him about 12:30 a.m. as he walked beside Western Drive near the Richmond-San Rafael Bridge toll plaza, Johnson said.

The incident was regarded as suspicious because refineries have been specifically mentioned as targets of terrorist attacks, because the incident coincided with the anniversary of the Sept. 11 attacks and because protesters were at the refinery Tuesday.

The incident began after someone saw a stranger on refinery property about 8 p.m., Johnson said.

Employees and police searched and did not find the man.

Hanson apparently was the only person involved, Johnson said. He remained in custody this morning.

Refinery spokesman Dean O'Hair said he could not discuss security at the plant, other than to stress that it has a security plan that has been reviewed since the Sept. 11 attacks.

"I think what's important here is that people understand that we take security very seriously at this facility," O'Hair said.