Kayakers v. Chevron

Kayaker protestors take their grievances onto the bay

Image c/o Brooke Ashton/Climate News

By Anthony Romero
News Reporter

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Five dozen climate activists sailed out in kayaks to protest the Chevron Corporation’s Richmond oil refinery. Rallying under the looming shadow of Chevron’s oil tankers, the protesters held signs that read: “Pollute no more”, “Act Now”, and “Clean air, water, and soil for all” in the hopes of bringing greater attention to the role Chevron has in the environmental and health harms in the surrounding community. 

The core group organizing the kayakers is the Rich City Rays, a collective of grassroots groups dedicated to climate justice based in Richmond. The kayakers strategically gathered near the tankers docked at Chevron’s Long Wharf, California's largest marine oil terminal. Long Wharf acts as a port for tankers to unload crude oil and pick up petroleum products, ranging from lubricants and gasoline to diesel and jet fuel; the Richmond refinery processes over 250,000 barrels of crude oil.

The Rich City Rays members grew up in Richmond drinking the water and breathing the air near the processing plant. “All the people that have lived in Richmond for the last 120 years have been in the shadow of this refinery,” said Alfredo Angulo, one of the group’s organizers. “They have experienced every fire event, all the benzene emissions, every oil spill.” Angulo is a first-generation Mexican-American resident of Richmond and a UC Berkeley graduate with a degree in political science.

 “There’s this understanding that we need to move away from oil and gas for the health and safety of our community, but also as the climate crisis strengthens and our communities are being more exposed to the negative effects of climate change, we need to move away from oil and gas to stop this climate chaos,” Angulo stated. “The world is on fire, and Chevron plays a massive role in driving the crisis.” 

Angulo’s, along with many of their fellow Rays members, call for activism began after a 2012 incident in which a Chevron refinery pipe carrying over 10,800 barrels of petroleum burst and sent highly flammable oil into the surrounding area, which ignited and engulfed Richmond in a dark, vaporous cloud. About 15,000 people sought medical treatment after the accident, reporting breathing problems, chest pain, asthma, headaches, and other health complications in the following weeks. Twenty individuals required hospitalization.

Angulo and the Rich City Rays hope to highlight the fossil fuel industry’s disproportionate effects on the environment, communities, and neighborhoods of color. For this reason, kayakers could be seen waving the flags of Ecuador, Myanmar, and Palestine to protest Chevron’s international reach. Another goal of the Rays is community engagement, encouraging Black and Latino youth to participate in a water sport like kayaking, an activity they historically lacked access to.

 In a statement, a spokesperson for the company stated that Chevron respects the right of individuals to protest peacefully and that the oil conglomerate’s Richmond branch remains dedicated to safely providing essential energy to the Bay Area.

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