Our Message
Greetings Fellow Benicians,
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 of just this month!
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?
A group of Benicians is working on these issues and is proposing legislation to strengthen local laws regarding health and safety. This group, the BISHO Working Group, supports the adoption of an ISO by the City of Benicia with the aim of significantly improving health, safety, public notification, prevention of and response to future incidents. The City Council will be considering this legislation in the very near future.
If you would like to learn more about the issues and our efforts to adopt an ISO, visit the Get Involved section of our website and sign up to be on our mailing list. After that, you will receive regular notices and information about the program and how you can help.
Most importantly, please help us grow our supporters so we can prove to both Benicia leadership and Valero Energy Corporation that adopting an ISO for Benicia is more than a wish – it is a movement for our community's health and safety.
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Together, we can make a real difference for all Benicians!
BISHO Working Group
What is an ISO?
Why do we want one for Benicia?
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.
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But what should actually be in a "model ISO?"
History Museum Benicia's Stone Hall.
About the Working Group
The BISHO Working Group is an unincorporated member group based in Benicia, California, dedicated to supporting the adoption of a Benicia Industrial Safety and Health Ordinance (BISHO). We strive to empower the community and hold local industries accountable for industrial safety and health. We believe accountability, transparency, activism, education, information, and advocacy will ensure a safer and healthier environment in Benicia. Our website, BISHO.org, aims to engage residents, local businesses, and government officials in its efforts. Our focus is on giving the community a voice in health and safety matters. We are all volunteers and we are not fundraising. We simply ask you to read what we have to say and decide for yourself if Benicia as a community deserves a "seat at the table" in discussions relating to our own health and safety.