California Targets Private Property With Latest Water Well Fees, Charges: Report

[Doofy]

We just know better now. I grew up playing with mercury and following the DDT Fogger Truck down the alley.

 

[ultrarunner]

Yep… I’m worried myself on the DDT truck as we though it was great pacing with our bikes…

 

[California]

That sounds bad. Like really bad.
... wikipedia says about the Castro Cove area ...

Does that sound like it might be the mudflats that you saw?

Has to be the same neighborhood, near the Richmond Chevron refinery. I think the ponds I saw were operated by tiny firms, not Chevron. Guys who had a single truck to go get used oil. And who possibly misrepresented what they sold. Shoestring operations, before there were environmental laws.

My uncle worked as an accountant in that huge Chevron refinery complex. I was in there once when we picked him up there, to start a camping trip. Then --- in 1952 he and my Dad caught Polio after we went to a public swimming pool. Uncle was severely disabled for the rest of his life, for example he had to assist one arm with the other to raise a coffee mug. He operated a tax prep firm out of his home. Dad was luckier, he had lifelong moderate loss of strength after months in an iron lung but eventually lived a normal life. I remember he drove us to one of the first Salk Vaccine public distribution events, after he was back on his feet. Finally his damaged swallowing muscles wore out and he had bad choking episodes, but he lived to 88. Get vaccinated, everybody!

 

[ultrarunner]

Chevron has put its world headquarters campus on the market with lots of staff moving to Texas I hear.

I like the credit union and they are moving too…

 

[California]

Chevron has put its world headquarters campus on the market with lots of staff moving to Texas I hear.

That's news! Moving worldwide administration to Texas? Ok, whatever.

I can't imagine they would abandon their huge investment in the refinery itself.

 

[WM75Guy]

Headquarters will downsize and stay in California but it sounds like many of the employees will relocate to Houston.

HOUSTON — Chevron says it's willing to pay its employees who are willing to relocate to Houston.
The U.S. oil company is planning to sell its headquarters located at Chevron Park in San Ramon, California, so it can move to a more modern space.
Chevron tells KHOU 11 News that the current real estate market on the West Coast provides the opportunity to find a better suited office space to meet the requirements of its employees based in San Ramon.

Those employees who are voluntarily willing to relocate to Houston, will be compensated for doing so. According to The Wall Street Journal, Chevron will cover moving costs for employees who opt-in.

Chevron says it plans to keep its headquarters in California, so it can maintain its 140-year history of operations and partnerships in the state.
The move is expected to occur in late 2023.
Chevron did not say how many employees it anticipates moving to Houston. Its current downtown Houston office holds about 8,000 employees, which is about triple the size of its operation in California.

 

[California]

The plot thickens!

The Chevron mega-refinery is on the shore of San Francisco Bay (it receives tankers from Alaska etc). I think HQ was located at the refinery when my uncle was an accountant there in the 1950's. There are lots of old admin-looking buildings in that complex.

San Ramon is a 40 minute drive inland. It's miles from the ocean. I wonder why they decided to move HQ to there.

So with your post, we now know it is the present HQ real estate in San Ramon that will be sold with some staff moving to Texas. But nominal HQ stays somewhere in California. And relocating the HQ has nothing to do with the Richmond refinery.

Thanks for clarifying that.

 

[ultrarunner]

Yes… the beautiful modern campus designed and built by Chevron in SAN Ramon California is on the market.

At the dedication it was said this assured Chevron commitmant to California.

The campus is similar to a university in design with excellent parking, amenities and built with security in mind including bus stop, etc…

Nothing antiquated about it just like ATT nearby.

 

[Larry Caldwell]

It's interesting to see photos of those salt flats in the South (SF) Bay, in aerial photos.

Your comment brought to mind something I hadn't thought about in 70 years: When US40 (Now I-80) ran near sea level in the Richmond/Pinole/Hercules part of the East Bay by the big refineries, you could see ponds in the mud flats by the shore where used motor oil was 'reclaimed' by letting the contaminants settle out. I recall asking my father if this was ecologically rational (using whatever words were common then). He said don't worry, they know what they're doing.

I hate to think what's in the residual mud there now.

There's an abandoned rail yard and roundhouse site in Roseburg. They used to treat railroad ties by dumping a tanker load of creosote into a hole in the ground and soaking ties in it. The black goo is still seeping out of a vertical ditch cut on the west side, and the ditch runs right into the river. The remnant of boiler repair from the age of steam is a layer of asbestos insulation, lead, and other random materials. Nobody was concerned about cleaning up their mess in the olden days. We're still living with it.

 

[ultrarunner]

Yep… the logic I read somewhere it’s from the earth and we return it to earth…