This website was developed to notify potential stakeholders in Northern Contra Costa County and the California Central Valley regarding the location of former crude-oil transportation pipelines currently owned by Chevron. Chevron�s intended audience for this website includes government agencies and private developers (among other stakeholders) with plans for public works, land development, or infrastructure development projects in the vicinity of the former crude-oil transportation pipelines, as well as the general public.
Due to the nature of the historic pipeline operations, small amounts of soil affected by residual oil have been found along the pipeline systems right-of-ways (ROWs). Residual oil has occasionally been found while maintaining neighboring underground utilities and during construction in areas adjacent to former pipeline ROWs. Chevron places the highest priority on the protection of the environment and the communities surrounding where the company operates or has had historic operations. Working under the direction of state regulatory agencies, including the California Regional Water Quality Control Board (RWQCB), Chevron has conducted analytical testing and human health risk assessments at several locations with known historic release points along the OVP and TAOC pipelines. Government agencies agreed with the results of that testing and analysis, which confirm that any soil affected by the historic release of product from the pipelines is non-hazardous and poses no significant health risk. Additionally, it has been established that residual subsurface oil present in the soil is relatively immobile due to its heavy and weathered nature, and therefore no oil-affected soil should be present outside the pipeline ROWs.
Over the years, Chevron has provided guidance to city and county planners, utility companies, and building contractors performing work in areas adjacent to historic pipeline ROWs. In some cases, Chevron assists with the management and testing of soil prior to the start of construction to identify whether soil in the area has been affected by historic pipeline operations. On occasion, these investigations discover small amounts of soil affected by residual oil along the pipeline ROWs. In other instances, evidence of historic releases is sometimes identified during the course of underground utility work and other construction in the vicinity of the ROWs. In either scenario, Chevron (when appropriate) coordinates the proper handling and disposal of such oil-affected soil.
Because Chevron�s OVP and TAOC pipelines relate to historic operations, with the majority of the pipelines having been previously removed, the pipelines are not readily identified as underground utilities through underground service alerts or utility surveys. Accordingly, in order to assist Chevron with identifying third-party projects that have the potential to encounter oil-affected soil associated with the former historic pipelines, Chevron actively engages third-party stakeholders that have projects within the vicinity of the pipeline right-of-way to notify them of the pipeline locations. When appropriate, Chevron gets involved during the planning phase of third-party projects to minimize and/or mitigate encountering oil-affected soil such that project delays are avoided when possible.
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