Support The Crucial 6/2 Bay Area Air District Vote for Community Health!

Shouldn’t oil refineries in the Bay Area provide the same regulatory health protection to us from chronic particulate pollution damage and death that refineries in Texas give their populations?   We think so.  And yet, right now, Big Bay Area Oil money may be persuading our Air District not to provide this basic protection. Don’t let it happen!!!

Particulate matter (PM) is the deadliest air pollutant in the Bay Area. On June 2nd, the Bay Area Air Quality Management District (BAAQMD) Board will finally vote on the “Cat Cracker Rule.” This regulation would require refineries to install equipment to reduce PM emissions by 70% from their “Fluidized Catalytic Cracking Units,” the largest source at East Bay refineries.

Sign this petition in support of adopting Rule 6-5 today!

Who would this regulation protect?

The whole region will breathe cleaner air, especially over a million residents of the East Bay. Those who live under the plume of these refinery emissions are disproportionately Black, Brown and Asian Americans.  According to Air District estimates, particulate matter pollution kills 3,000 Bay Area residents every year and in communities like Richmond, is responsible for some of the highest rates of childhood asthma in the state and a host of other diseases. Learn more about the devastating health effects of PM and why this regulation is desperately needed here.

Big Oil fights back. 

The Western States Petroleum Association (WSPA) and the two refineries affected by this rule, Chevron and PBF (formerly Shell), are lobbying heavily to avoid spending their money on a health-protecting upgrade to benefit their neighbors. The industry is strongly opposed to installing the best available technology, “wet gas scrubbing,”  identical to that already in use at the majority of refineries around the US, including at Valero refinery in Benicia.

Please take action NOW:

1. Sign this petition to the Air District Board of Directors – to end this environmental injustice, by adopting the strongest standard to protect our communities from deadly PM asap!
2. Marin County’s representative on the BAAQMD Board of Directors is Supervisor Katie Rice.   One of the most effective things you can do right now is to write Katie Rice at krice@marincounty.org, and ask her to support the strongest possible rules restricting particulate emissions on June 2nd and support the same particulate scrubbers required around the country! See the sample letter here.
3. Attend the virtual Board meeting on June 2 – RSVP here for meeting details. Board Members need to hear from thousands of their constituents (like you) that we insist they pass the strongest available regulation to help address this environmental injustice.

350 Bay Area leads this work at the Air District and this rule is one of our highest priorities. The Air District’s Advisory Council own scientists’ recommendation could not have been clearer. “There is no safe level of PM and the District should move as quickly as possible to take maximum action within its authority to protect health by reducing PM, especially in areas with elevated exposures.”