KTLA

Oil spill at Chevron refinery in Contra Costa County prompts public health warning

This March 9, 2010, file photo shows a tanker truck passing the Chevron oil refinery in Richmond, Calif. (AP Photo/Paul Sakuma, File)

Contra Costa County authorities issued a public health advisory Tuesday afternoon after a Chevron refinery in Richmond began spilling a petroleum product into the San Francisco Bay.

Tyler Kruzich, a spokesman for Chevron, said refinery employees first noticed a sheen in the water about 3 p.m. The company immediately started working to contain the leak and notified the various state and federal agencies that respond to oil spills, he said.


A spill report from the state’s Office of Emergency Services said a refinery pipeline was leaking roughly five gallons per minute of an oil and gasoline mixture into the bay. The report, which was generated at 4 p.m., said about 100 gallons had been spilled.

Footage from the Bay Area ABC7 helicopter showed an iridescent sheen hugging the coastline and extending into the bay.

Read the full story on LATimes.com.