Bay Area

Parks Pursues Land Acquisition Near China Camp

The County of Marin purchased 33 acres of the Buck’s Landing site in 2020 for $1.6 million – $1.1 million from Measure A and $500,000 from the California State Coastal Conservancy. The purchase was a culmination of almost a decade of advocacy by members of the Santa Venetia community, who sought more public access to Gallinas Creek. The site had been privately owned by the same family for about 70 years and used as a roadside bar, a brickyard, and a boat storage facility.

Published

3 years ago

July 19, 2022

Oakland Post

Marin County Parks’ long-term goal for the Buck’s Landing property is to maintain public to access the bay, protect natural habitat, and provide recreational opportunities.

Courtesy of Marin County

In a move to ensure more public access to San Francisco Bay wetlands and recreation, Marin County Parks is seeking approval to purchase 7.27 acres of the Buck’s Landing property on the edge of Gallinas Creek in unincorporated San Rafael. The County bought an adjacent property two years ago.

Parks personnel on July 12 will present a notice of intent to purchase before the Marin County Board of Supervisors for a parcel owned by three trusts of the Smith family. The purchase price is $1,850,000, with funds coming from Parks’ Measure A tax revenues that are earmarked for land acquisitions. Parks plans to present a draft purchase and sale agreement to the Board for consideration on August 9.

Buck’s Landing is at 665 North San Pedro Road, just over 2 miles northeast of the Marin County Civic Center. It is between the Santa Venetia neighborhood to the west and China Camp State Park to the east. Gallinas Creek flows into San Francisco Bay about a quarter mile from Buck’s Landing.

With the proposed purchase of an additional 7.27 acres, Parks’ long-term goal for the property is to maintain public access to the bay, protect natural habitat, and provide recreational opportunities, said Carl Somers, Parks’ Chief of Planning, Real Property, and Government Affairs. Community members have advocated for the acquisition of the site as a park for many years, leading staff to identify the area for protection in the 2008 Parks Strategic Plan.

“This is a long-term community priority that, if it comes to fruition, would secure public access to the bay,” Somers said. “It has existed there providing bay access for decades under private ownership. This acquisition would allow for much more flexibility in how the site can be managed as a park in the future.”

Measure A, a quarter-cent sales tax, was approved by countywide voters in 2012. An updated version of the measure was approved this June with nearly 75% support. By law, Measure A funds projects and programs that benefit parks, open space, and agricultural lands across Marin. In recent years, Parks has used Measure A acquisition funds to purchase Sky Ranch near Fairfax, the Corte Madera Baylands, and a portion of Bowman Canyon Ranch in western Novato.

On July 12, the Board will be asked to approve a resolution issuing a notice of intent to purchase the property and schedule a public hearing August 9 to collect feedback on and consider approving the proposal.

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Oakland Post: Week of May 28 – June 30, 2025

The printed Weekly Edition of the Oakland Post: Week of May 28 – June 3, 2025

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Chevron Richmond Installs Baker Hughes Flare.IQ, Real-time Flare Monitoring, Control and Reduction System

While the sight of flaring can cause concern in the community, flares are essential safety systems that burn pollutants to prevent them from being released directly into the atmosphere. They activate during startup and shut-down of facility units or during upsets or equipment malfunctions. The typical flare stack is about 200 feet high so that vapors are well above street levels.

Published

2 weeks ago

May 19, 2025

Oakland Post

Image courtesy The Richmond Standard.

The Richmond Standard

Chevron Richmond recently installed flare.IQ, a real-time, automated system that will improve the facility’s flaring performance.

The technology, developed by Panametrics, a Baker Hughes business, uses sensors to monitor, reduce and control flaring in real time. It collects and assesses data on refinery processes, such as temperature, pressure, gas flow and gas composition, and adjusts accordingly to ensure flares burn more efficiently and cleanly, leading to fewer emissions.

“The cleaner the flare, the brighter the flame can look,” said Duy Nguyen, a Chevron Richmond flaring specialist. “If you see a brighter flame than usual on a flare, that actually means flare.IQ is operating as intended.”

“A key element in Baker Hughes’ emissions abatement portfolio, flare.IQ has a proven track record in optimizing flare operations and significantly reducing emissions,” said Colin Hehir, vice president of Panametrics, a Baker Hughes business. “By partnering with Chevron Richmond, one of the first operators in North America to adopt flare.IQ, we are looking forward to enhancing the plant’s flaring operations.”

The installation of flare.IQ is part of a broader and ongoing effort by Chevron Richmond to improve flare performance, particularly in response to increased events after the new, more efficient hydrogen plant was brought online in 2019.

Since then, the company has invested $25 million — and counting — into flare minimization. As part of the effort, a multidisciplinary refinery team was formed to find and implement ways to improve operational reliability and ultimately reduce flaring. Operators and other employees involved in management of flares and flare gas recovery systems undergo new training.

“It is important to me that the community knows we are working hard to lower emissions and improve our flaring performance,” Nguyen said.

Also evolving is the process by which community members are notified of flaring incidents. The Community Warning System (CWS), operated by Contra Costa County is an “all-hazard” public warning system.

Residents can opt-in to receive alerts via text, e-mail and landline. The CWS was recently expanded to enable residents to receive notifications for “Level 1” incidents, which are considered informational as they do not require any community action.

For more information related to these topics, check out the resources included on the Chevron Richmond, CAER and Contra Costa Health websites. Residents are also encouraged to follow @chevronrichmond and @RFDCAOnline on Facebook and X (formerly Twitter), where additional information may be posted during an incident.