"Group: Toxics Linger After Chevron Fire"

"Cancer-causing chemicals linger around homes and in gardens over a 9-square-mile area more than three months after a catastrophic fire at the Chevron refinery in Richmond, according to an environmental justice group."



"Independent testing by Global Community Monitor found that toxic fallout from the giant plume of smoke and soot that spewed from the plant on Aug. 6 blanketed an area stretching from Albany to San Pablo with dangerous hydrocarbons.

Five of eight samples of dust at different residential locations around the refinery had high levels of polycyclic aromatic hydrocarbons, or PAHs, in the dust and soil, said Denny Larson, executive director of the Richmond group, which tests for toxic substances in urban communities and advocates for tighter regulations and monitoring."

Peter Fimrite reports for the San Francisco Chronicle November 18, 2012.
 

Source: San Francisco Chronicle, 11/20/2012