Aug. 02--RICHMOND -- On the eve of the one-year anniversary of the disastrous Chevron refinery fire, the city of Richmond sued the company Friday, accusing officials of placing profits and executive pay over public safety.
The crude-oil pipeline leak that led to the "terrifying" blaze Aug. 6, 2012, was "a continuation of years of neglect, lax oversight and corporate indifference to necessary safety inspection and repairs," said the suit filed against Chevron Corp. in Contra Costa County Superior Court.
Richmond city officials and attorneys filing the suit were to discuss the case at a news conference later Friday.
Chevron officials did not immediately respond to a request for comment.
When a corroded pipe burst, a "ferocious fireball" erupted, creating a plume of smoke and gas that prompted 15,000 people in Richmond and surrounding cities to seek treatment at hospitals for respiratory problems, the suit said.
As Chevron was ignoring public-safety concerns at the refinery, it was paying $52.8 million to compensate its top three executives in 2011 alone, said the suit.
The city is seeking unspecified damages, claiming negligence and public and private nuisance.
In an interim report in April, the U.S. Chemical Safety Board said the fire that destroyed part of the refinery happened because weak state regulations allowed the company to monitor rather than simply fix potential problems. Company engineers had recommended that the corroded pipe be replaced.
The Chronicle reported last year that the agency conducted three planned inspections at the Richmond refinery in the six years before the fire, spending a total of 150 inspector hours. In at least one of the cases, the inspector did not actually visit the refinery. The level of state oversight was similar at the 14 other refineries in California.
Henry K. Lee is a San Francisco Chronicle staff writer. E-mail: [email protected] Twitter: @henryklee
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