by Alejandro Lazo CalMatters
An explosion rattled windows across nearby neighborhoods. Orange columns of flame shot like blowtorches out of stacks and pipes, uncontrolled.
The incident that shook Chevron’s El Segundo refinery last week once would have prompted a federal investigation. Not anymore.
As the Trump administration moves to weaken the U.S. Chemical Safety Board, California still hasn’t said whether any agency, department or authority will take charge of a comprehensive investigation when a refinery erupts — something that’s happened twice this year.
Separately, in response to fears over higher gas prices, Gov. Gavin Newsom and state lawmakers have opened the door to more drilling, and state agencies have delayed, or moved to loosen, new oversight measures.
“It does raise the issue of who’s watching the refineries,” said Jamie Court, president of Consumer Watchdog. “They’re the most dangerous manufacturing facilities we have in our communities.”
Scholars and engineers as well as local agencies and fenceline communities have seen the now-inactive chemical safety board as a vital source of information into the causes of major incidents at refineries. The independent federal agency “was the gold standard for investigations of these kinds of incidents,” said Greg Karras, an environmental advocate and independent consultant.
But the Trump administration has argued that the board “duplicates substantial responsibilities”
