A Message from the BISHO Working Group
Did you know that from at least 2003 through 2022 Valero emitted cancer-causing benzene and other toxic gasses into Benicia’s air, typically hundreds of times higher than levels permitted by the Bay Area Air Quality Management District, without informing the City or its citizens? This is just one of many documented, serious offenses and violations Valero has committed – including additional extensive, ongoing, decade-long violations we learned late last year (2023)!
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Did you know that the Valero facility is the only refinery in the Bay Area that is not governed by an industrial safety ordinance (ISO), a law that can protect a community’s health and safety? Do you think we’ve waited long enough for Benicia to have an ISO?
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Do you think we’ve waited long enough for Benicia to have an ISO? Read more.
Our Mission
Empower the community through education and advocacy
Improve industrial safety and health practices in Benicia
Promote community involvement in decision-making
What is an ISO?
Why do we want one for Benicia?
What would be in it?
A model Industrial Safety Ordinance (ISO) for Benicia would stand, now and in the future, as an advanced, effective, enforceable oversight tool for local government and the public, with the primary aim to improve community safety and health in relation to operational and management performance and safety culture practices at major polluting industrial facilities located within Benicia’s jurisdiction.
​But what should actually be in a "model ISO?"