Chevron's Richmond refinery has malfunctioned 17 times over just five months, resulting in nearly double the number of flaring incidents in all of last year.
When something goes wrong at a refinery, workers attempt to limit the release of hazardous substances by burning off gases in huge plumes of fire, or "flares."
Unfortunately, loads of pollutants still escape into the atmosphere and surrounding neighborhoods during flaring incidents.
Call me naive, but you'd think a corporation that recently reported a net income of $2.6 billion in the first quarter could figure out how to keep its own backyard refinery from repeatedly messing up.