Excess flaring reported at Richmond's Chevron refinery

RICHMOND, Calif. (KGO) -- Richmond fire officials are reporting excessive flaring at the Chevron refinery on Thursday.

No shelter-in-place order was issued, but a level one alert is in effect for the community, which Chevron says is standard for flaring events like this one.

The Chevron Richmond Refinery issued a statement saying, "The Chevron Richmond Refinery is experiencing some intermittent flaring activity this morning due to an upset at a processing unit. Our experts are working to address the issue and have issued a Level 1 Community Warning System alert. We do not anticipate any off-site impact and there is no need to shelter in place".

In February, officials reported that a problem or maintenance issue may have caused flaring to occur at the refinery.

RELATED: Officials say possible problem may have caused Richmond refinery flaring

Contra Costa County Hazard Materials Specialist Nick Yumemoto told ABC7 News that the flaring did not cause black or white smoke and it was considered a level 1, as well. Yumemoto also said that there was no current threat to anyone's safety that day.

It's not yet clear what events led to the flaring five months ago, but district personnel worked with the refinery to determine exactly what occurred and how. "As a part of the flare minimization rule, the refinery will have to take steps to prevent flares like this from happening again," Flannigan said. "If a certain failure occurred, they'll have to come up with a plan to

prevent it in the future."

Stay with ABC7 News for more on this developing story.