Richmond residents found themselves in a haze of inconvenience yesterday as Chevron's Richmond Refinery discharged yet another plume into the skyline. At approximately 3:30 p.m., the refinery triggered a Level 1 incident alert, sparking a round of flaring that city officials insisted posed no public health threat, though a pungent stench was likely to linger over the neighborhood.

The incident, swiftly downplayed by local authorities, required no evacuations or shelters in place, according to a statement issued by the city, which also assured residents that the flaring had ceased; however, the familiar scene of flaring stacks has remained a punctuated chapter in the refinery's history, marked by previous slaps on the wrist for air quality violations, as reported by Mercury News.

Richmond's Fire Department Hazardous Materials Team was on site to monitor the aftermath of the flaring, the San Pablo Police Department disseminated a community advisory, detailing Chevron's immediate jump into investigation mode and reiterating the negligible risk to public health, which was accessed from the department's Facebook page.