El Segundo Chevron Refinery Explosion Sparks Public Health Concerns and Policy Questions
By: Madeleine Sleeper
On Thursday, October 2, 2025, the Chevron refinery in South L.A. broke out in flames. The incident occurred at a processing unit adjacent to the southeast corner of the facility, according to Jeff Wilson, Corporate Affairs Manager at Chevron. The fire was put out shortly with the help of emergency services from the cities of Manhattan Beach and El Segundo. After an investigation into the cause of the explosion, no injuries were reported, and all site workers were accounted for. Following the fire, Chevron’s Health and Environmental team has performed air quality monitoring in the local community as a preventative measure. The corporation is currently working alongside the California Office of Spill Prevention and Response, California Division of Occupational Safety and Health, and South Coast Air Quality Management District to track environmental and public health. But are these efforts responsive enough?
Yes, local ecosystem health is being supervised. At least in the short term. But in looking at the toxic legacy of oil pollutants, El Segundo is in it for the long haul.
Suzanne Paulson, UCLA Professor of Atmospheric and Oceanic Sciences, reported to The LAist that at the time of the explosion winds were blowing offshore which helped keep air pollution out of nearby communities. While this sounds eco-friendly, the particulate matter could eventually settle in bodies of water and disrupt sea life.
In 2022, the Chevron refinery emitted over 3 million tons of greenhouse gases, distinguishing it as one of California’s top emitters. The South Coast AQMD indicated that the pollution released from the refinery was mostly VOCs, or Volatile Organic Compounds. These molecules pose major health risks to humans if exposure is persistent. Since not all VOCs affect public health in the same manner, it is important that the pollution emitted is distinguished.
Benzene is a type of VOC that can spew out from oil infrastructure. It is the sweet-smelling chemical we have all encountered at the gas station. It poses a large risk to human health if inhaled for more than eight hours, noted Seth Sonkoff, researcher at UC Berkeley’s School of Public Health. While Chevron has informed the public that there have been no exceedances of benzene detected by facility monitoring systems, this doesn’t promise that there weren’t any to begin with.
The systems currently in place at the plant are not oriented in a way to see the difference between upwind and downwind particle emission, says Kyle Ferrar, a FracTracker Alliance researcher investigating leaks and health risks from oil sites. Understanding the various flows of emittants can help monitor and control pollution that can affect air quality and harm human health, oceanic health, and local microclimates. The El Segundo facility will require a more robust fence line detection process to ensure VOCs such as benzene are captured and reported to maintain transparency for vulnerable local communities.
The impact of the Chevron refinery explosion will not only be felt initially, but the consequences will certainly be felt in the long term. Benzene and other VOCs are toxic chemicals that can cause blood cancers, liver and kidney damage, and affect the central nervous system. Epidemiological studies have found that the longer a person is exposed to these chemicals, the higher their risk for developing leukemia and lymphoma, especially in children.
In 2015, the Environmental Protection Agency (EPA) established a policy that requires oil refineries to monitor benzene emissions along the fence lines encompassing the perimeter of the facility. If these plants exceed the “action level” of 9 micrograms per cubic meter annually, they are mandated to fix and report VOC leaks from the infrastructure. While this federal oversight lowered benzene emissions nationally, corporations do not necessarily need to report these pollutants unless they “exceed” the specific action level.
The now decommissioned Philadelphia Energy Solutions (PES) refinery complex still emits benzene and other VOCs detected by its fence-line monitoring system. The Environmental Integrity Project, a nonprofit watchdog coalition established by EPA staff, has documented the facility and found levels of benzene consistently above the action level of 9 micrograms per cubic meter. The refinery is located in a neighborhood where residents are majority low-income and people of color, much like the communities surrounding the El Segundo plant. This issue becomes one of environmental injustice as the locations of these fossil fuel facilities perpetuate systemic discrimination and health inequities. It is not enough protection for local communities to only take precautionary measures over excesses of pollutants, given the chronic health risks at stake.
Taking action necessitates environmental policy remediations, starting with lowering the “actionable” limits for benzene and VOC emissions. To protect both the ecosystem and public health, it is critical that these toxic pollutants do not linger and exceed levels, but are immediately detected, reported, and captured. This will mandate refined fence line monitoring systems that also distinguish between upwind and downwind particle emissions. Stricter policies are needed to hold the fossil fuel industries accountable for the negative externalities associated with the production of oil.
