On Feb. 9, an oil spill at the Chevron refinery in Richmond released approximately 600 gallons of oil into the San Francisco Bay. The oil spilled for at least two hours before it was stopped and a single containment boom was deployed to initiate clean-up. Many Richmond residents say that response was grossly inadequate, arguing that action should have been taken sooner, that containment efforts should have been more aggressive, and that there is an urgent need for increased transparency as to how the oil spill happened and the status of clean-up efforts.
As of now, very little is known about the incident, and environmental activists are skeptical that the ongoing multi-agency investigation including the Bay Area Air District, the U.S. Coast Guard, Contra Costa County, and several other local and federal agencies will release findings in a time and manner favorable to Chevron.