Valero’s Benicia Refinery distributed $500,000 to local charities from funds raised through the Valero Texas Open (VTO) and Valero Benefit for Children (BFC).

This year, the tournament and associated events, including the BFC, raised more than $16 million in net proceeds for charitable organizations across the U.S., including those in the San Francisco Bay Area. The tournament is ranked #1 in charitable giving on the PGA TOUR this year.

“We’re driven to make a difference for our community,” said Josh Tulino, Vice President and General Manager of the Valero Benicia Refinery. “We’re proud to continue supporting these agencies and all they do to improve children’s lives in the San Francisco Bay Area.”

The 2021 Valero Benefit for Children local recipients are:

• Bay Area Crisis Nursery

• Benicia Unified School District

• Boys & Girls Club of Contra Costa County

• Fighting Back Partnership

• Junior Achievement of Northern California

• The Leaven Program

• Play 4 All Park

• Shelter Solano, Inc.

• Vacaville Boys & Girls Club

Turnarounds are periodic planned shutdowns of part or all of the refinery in order to conduct routine and preventative maintenance. The turnaround should only impact a few units, while the rest of the refinery will continue to operate. Given the complexity of refining units and the high priority Valero Benicia gives to safety, these turnarounds can last several weeks.

Maintenance and upkeep of our facility is crucial to ensure that the refinery continues to meet the highest, most up to date standards in safety and efficiency. During a maintenance turnaround workers are able to access portions of the refinery that are not accessible during operation. This allows for maintenance, internal inspection, and equipment updates that help the refinery run smoothly.

As the refinery process units start back up, there may be intermittent flaring as part of a safe restart and is the safest and most environmentally sound manner for a refinery to dispose of unusable refinery gases as the unit is brought online. The planned flaring activities are managed as part of Valero’s approved Flare Minimization Plan under BAAQMD Regulation 12, Rule 12. Valero, along with the City of Benicia and regulatory agencies, will continue to conduct air monitoring in the area to ensure protection of the community.

Valero and the Rebuilding Together Solano County (RTSC) team delivered food boxes to Vallejo Broadway Movile Home Park: 6,450 pounds of food were distributed including meat, dairy (milk/cheese/yogurt), produce, and non-perishable food to 210 low-income mobile home park households.

RTSC is also asking for volunteers for a December 13th "Safe at Home Kit Assembly." Kits will be assembled at the refinery with help from Valero volunteers to assist low-income households, seniors, and veterans.