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El Segundo Refinery

In 1911, oil magnate John D Rockefeller's corporation, The Standard Oil Company picked a site in El Segundo, California to build a new oil refinery. Construction began on the site, and it officially opened in 1931. That same year, the name of the company branch in El Segundo was changed to Chevron, and the facility began production on kerosene fuels.

As the refinery grew and developed, many new large pieces of industrial equipment were installed to produce greater levels of oil. This equipment required small components such as rubber gaskets and insulation materials, and many of these items were made out of a naturally occurring material that had the ability to hold up under the extreme temperatures created in the refining process. That material was asbestos, and while it worked well in a refinery setting, it was later found to be highly toxic. Asbestos is made up of tiny fibers, and those fibers can easily break apart and float in the atmosphere. They are too small to be seen by the human eye, so employees of the El Segundo plant could easily inhale them and not even realize it. Any fibers that were breathed in by a victim would be likely to remain within their respiratory system for many years. While there, the asbestos can cause a great deal of internal damage, and lead to the development of diseases such as a form of cancer known as mesothelioma, which can be deadly. It can take years for signs of these illnesses to develop, so anyone who has been exposed to products made out of asbestos should notify their healthcare provider immediately.

Chevron had to remove every bit of asbestos from the plant to create a safe environment for their employees and the local community. Unfortunately this was not the only major issue that company executives were faced with over the years. In July of 2005 workers were performing maintenance on an oil processing unit when a fire was ignited. Two people were injured as the blaze roared to life, and local fire fighting crews were called in to douse the flames. The fire damaged the processing equipment and burnt up a large supply of oil. This caused an increase in the price of diesel fuel throughout the West Coast. Prices were seen to jump up as much as 5 cents per gallon within a single day. Independent gas station owners were hit the hardest, because Chevron was temporarily unable to supply them with diesel gasoline, so their prices were forced to be raised even higher. Workers began to repair the processing unit immediately, but it would take over a week before it would be fully functioning again.

May of 2008 saw an unexpected release of hazardous chemicals into the air at the plant. An emissions controller malfunctioned, allowing a large amount of nitrous oxide to escape into the air. The California Office of Emergency Services was called in to investigate, and quickly determined the level of pollution to be far above what is considered to be acceptable. Investigations into this incident are ongoing.

Today the refinery in El Segundo produces gasoline, jet fuel and diesel. The facility is one of the largest on the West Coast and it has the ability to produce up to 260,000 of crude oil on a daily basis.

Last modified: December 09 2009.