City Government

City Council Considers $1 Billion Chevron Refinery Modernization Project

Published

11 years ago

July 24, 2014

As Richmond’s City Council considered whether or not to approve the Chevron Refinery Modernization Project, a group of community residents and Chevron workers expressed their support of the $1 billion project at a public hearing this week.

The Planning Commission is recommending that the council approve Alternative 11, which includes reduced sulfur processing, no increase in refinery greenhouse gas emissions, and other conditions of approval for the project, according to the city report.

One suggested condition is that the City Council enters into a community health and wellness agreement with Chevron that would provide $30 million for community programs such as scholarships, job training, and funding for a community greenhouse gas reduction program.

The city report details that Chevron’s proposed project includes “equipment improvements to remove naturally occurring sulfur,” and design features that reduce emissions including energy-saving LED lighting, to maintain a safer facility. The project is expected to produce 1,000 new construction jobs.

Chevronofficials have agreed to include Alternative 11 in the project and increase their community investment from $30 million to $60 million, the Richmond Standard reports.

“This project balances the good of the company and the community,” said Kory Judd, General Manager for the refinery, on Tuesday.

Chevron officials encouraged the council to accept the project’s current conditions at Tuesday’s public hearing. Reports say nearly 100 people spoke at the meeting, some advocating for the proposed project and others supporting recommendations suggested by the Planning Commission.

Reports say Mayor Gayle McLaughlin and Vice Mayor Jovanka Beckles are expected to support the Planning Commission’s recommendations, while council members Nat Bates and Corky Booze are expected to back Chevron’s proposal. Council members Tom Butts, Jim Rogers, and Jael Myrick decisions’ may determine how the council votes next week.

City Council is expected to make a decision on the project on July 29.

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Oakland Post: Week of June 4 – 10, 2025

The printed Weekly Edition of the Oakland Post: Week of June 4-10, 2025

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June 7, 2025

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Remembering George Floyd

BLACKPRESSUSA NEWSWIRE — Minnesota State Attorney General Keith Ellison acknowledges that the Floyd case five years ago involved a situation in which due process was denied, and five years later, the president is currently dismissing “due process. “The Minnesota Atty General also says, “Trump is trying to attack constitutional rule, attacking congressional authority and judicial decision-making.” George Floyd was an African American man killed by police who knocked on his neck and on his back, preventing him from breathing.

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1 week ago

June 2, 2025

Oakland Post

Mural showing the portrait of George Floyd in Mauerpark in Berlin. To the left of the portrait the lettering "I can't Breathe" was added, on the right side the three hashtags #GeorgeFloyd, #Icantbreathe and #Sayhisname. The mural was completed by Eme Street Art (facebook name) / Eme Free Thinker (signature) on 29 May 2020. (Wikimedia Commons)

By April Ryan
BlackPressUSA Newswire

“The president’s been very clear he has no intentions of pardoning Derek Chauvin, and it’s not a request that we’re looking at,” confirms a senior staffer at the Trump White House. That White House response results from public hope, including from a close Trump ally, Georgia Congresswoman Marjorie Taylor Greene. The timing of Greene’s hopes coincides with the Justice Department’s recent decision to end oversight of local police accused of abuse. It also falls on the fifth anniversary of the police-involved death of George Floyd on May 25th. The death sparked national and worldwide outrage and became a transitional moment politically and culturally, although the outcry for laws on police accountability failed.

The death forced then-Democratic presidential candidate Joe Biden to focus on deadly police force and accountability. His efforts while president to pass the George Floyd Justice in policing act failed. The death of George Floyd also put a spotlight on the Black community, forcing then-candidate Biden to choose a Black woman running mate. Kamala Harris ultimately became vice president of the United States alongside Joe Biden. Minnesota State Attorney General Keith Ellison prosecuted the cases against the officers involved in the death of Floyd. He remembers,” Trump was in office when George Floyd was killed, and I would blame Trump for creating a negative environment for police-community relations. Remember, it was him who said when the looting starts, the shooting starts, it was him who got rid of all the consent decrees that were in place by the Obama administration.”

In 2025, Police-involved civilian deaths are up by “about 100 to about 11 hundred,” according to Ellison. Ellison acknowledges that the Floyd case five years ago involved a situation in which due process was denied, and five years later, the president is currently dismissing “due process. “The Minnesota Atty General also says, “Trump is trying to attack constitutional rule, attacking congressional authority and judicial decision-making.” George Floyd was an African-American man killed by police who knocked on his neck and on his back, preventing him from breathing. During those minutes on the ground, Floyd cried out for his late mother several times. Police subdued Floyd for an alleged counterfeit $20 bill.