Bay Area

Parties Work to Preserve Tiburon Peninsula Land

“Marin County Parks is pleased to support the long-time efforts of the community and now TPL to protect this stunning landscape,” said Parks Director Max Korten. “I look forward to the work ahead with all stakeholders and the potential of caring for this special place, for its unique natural resources and to provide outstanding recreation opportunities for all to enjoy.”

Published

3 years ago

June 30, 2022

Oakland Post

The private parcel above Tiburon known as the Martha Property has been with the same family for more than 100 years.

Proposal to convert Martha Property on Easton Point into County open space

Courtesy of Marin County

One of the most pristine pieces of undeveloped property in the San Francisco Bay Area could be preserved as open space under a proposed agreement between the County of Marin, the property ownership group, and an environmentally minded nonprofit.

The 110-acre parcel on Easton Point, often called the Martha Property because of the ownership group’s name, is near the southern tip of the Tiburon Peninsula and overlooking Tiburon, Belvedere, Sausalito, Angel Island, San Francisco, the Golden Gate Bridge, and beyond. For more than 50 years, nearby residents were uncertain whether the land would be developed for homes or left unscathed for the preservation of nature and recreational purposes. The land has been with the same family for more than 100 years.

On June 21, the Marin County Open Space District Board of Directors will discuss a proposed purchase and sale agreement for the County to acquire the Martha Property from the ownership group and partner with the Trust for Public Land (TPL) on a two-year plan to raise funds and finalize the purchase. The goal would be to transfer the property to the Open Space District and either add it to the existing adjacent Old Saint Hilary’s Open Space Preserve or create a new preserve.

Tiburon Peninsula residents have longed to protect the Martha-owned parcel, which is habitat for several species of rare native plants. Its preservation and acquisition is cited in the Open Space District’s strategic plan of 2008 and long-range plans of the nonprofit Greenbelt Alliance.

The terms of the purchase agreement include $26.1 million from the Open Space District and a term expiration date of Aug. 30, 2024. Of that price, approximately $18 million would be raised by a localized special tax known as a Mello-Roos bond measure – the same arrangement that was made to purchase the Old Saint Hilary’s site in the late 1990s. If approved by a two-thirds majority of voters in the November 2022 election, only property owners in Tiburon east of Trestle Glen Boulevard and the City of Belvedere would be subjected to the tax.

The total price of the land is $42.1 million, pending several conditions to closing stipulated by the agreement. The breakdown in funding sources would be: $18 million from the Mello-Roos bond measure; $15 million from private donations coordinated by TPL; $6 million from Measure A tax revenues; $2.1 from the Old Saint Hilary’s bond measures in 1993 and 1997.

Measure A, which is on pace to be renewed with approximately 75% support during the June 7 election, is a quarter-cent sales tax that supports parks, open space, and sustainable agriculture across Marin.

The deal would not proceed if voters reject the Mello-Roos bond measure or if TPL is unsuccessful in raising the private funds.

For more details on the proposal, see the Open Space District’s staff report and presentation to the Board of Supervisors and the TPL statement.

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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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1 week ago

May 30, 2025

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Oakland Post: Week of May 21 – 27, 2025

The printed Weekly Edition of the Oakland Post: Week of May 21 – 27, 2025

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May 25, 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

3 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.