BlueGreen Alliance Lauds Rejection of Legal Settlement that Would Have Endangered Refinery Workers, Communities
The California Occupational Safety and Health Standards Board yesterday voted unanimously to reject a legal settlement reached between the Western States Petroleum Association (WSPA) and the California Attorney General’s office that would have removed a critical safety-focused provision in the state’s Process Safety Management for Petroleum Refineries (PSM) standards. The provision ensures refinery workers have the right to select PSM representatives who have the authority to participate “throughout all phases” of PSM implementation and decision-making with management.
The settlement was the intended resolution of a lawsuit filed in 2018 by WSPA seeking to weaken the PSM, which was adopted in 2017 following the 2012 Chevron fire in Richmond. That fire endangered the lives of 19 refinery workers and caused some 15,000 community members to seek medical attention for symptoms related to smoke exposure. Numerous labor, environmental, and community groups—including United Steelworkers Locals 5 and 675—urged the rejection of the settlement.
The following statement is from BlueGreen Alliance Senior State Policy Organizer Franki Gracey:
“We’re proud to stand strong with the United Steelworkers, labor, environmental, and community leaders fighting to keep workers’ voices strong in the effort to prevent refinery fires and explosions. We thank the California Occupational Safety and Health Standards Board for rejecting this settlement that would have weakened standards that protect the lives of workers and the communities around California’s refineries and urge the Attorney General’s Office to fight to keep the PSM strong.”