By Carlos Perez

The Richmond Refinery works around the clock to produce the transportation fuels that we all use on a daily basis. We always strive to prevent any off-site impact from our operations on the surrounding community. That is what we expect of ourselves and what our neighbors require from us.

We recognize that people living or working near the refinery sometimes have questions about odors or noises they believe may be coming from the refinery. The refinery has team members that are ready 24 hours a day, 7 days a week to respond to and investigate community inquiries.

We investigate every call that comes into our hotline. To initiative an inquiry, residents simply need to call our Odor/Noise Hotline at 510-242-2127. To help us identify and if necessary mitigate the issue, we ask that you give us a call as soon as possible after an odor or noise is detected.

Our team will initiative an investigation, which may include going out into the community to take air samples, along with checking community air monitors and refinery activity. Upon completing the investigation, we share the findings with the resident who initiated the inquiry.

This is an important part of what we do and I encourage our neighbors to let us know if they have a noise or odor question.

Did You Know?

In urban communities like Richmond there are many different sources of odors, such cars and trucks, industrial operations, landfills and wastewater and sewage systems. Men and women also have different sensitivities to smells.

Carlos Perez is a Health, Environment and Safety Compliance Team Lead at the Richmond Refinery