Fifteen months after about 800 gallons of diesel spilled into San Francisco Bay from a leaking pipe at the Richmond Chevron Refinery, the public is still waiting for a promised investigation by Contra Costa County
Chevron has filed a half dozen follow-up reports with the county between February and October 2021, as required by law. But Contra Costa Health Services has not produced the independent investigation that county officials said would take six to 12 months. In fact, the contractor Health Services hired to review Chevron’s investigative report on the spill and determine if more is required, still hasn’t received the report, according to Matthew Kaufmann, the county’s director of Hazardous Materials Programs. He said attorneys with the county and the company are still drafting an agreement allowing the county’s contractor, AcuTech, to review that report, adding that Chevron wants to protect trade secrets in the document.