Smoke briefly poured into the air at the Chevron refinery on Tuesday, recalling the Aug. 6 fire that damaged a crude oil facility and caused 18,000 Bay Area residents to file medical claims with the oil company.
But a Chevron spokesperson said there was no cause for concern about Tuesday's flare, which lasted up to seven minutes. Oil refineries use such flares to relieve pressure during maintenance or when equipment malfunctions, Melissa Richey told KQED's Tara Siler.
"They safely burn material such as hydrogen or hydrocarbon and right now we're still gathering the details of what was released and how much," Richey said.
Richey expects to have more information tomorrow on the emissions and what triggered the incident.