El Segundo refinery burn-off creates smoke plume seen for miles

EL SEGUNDO, Calif. (KABC) -- The Chevron Refinery in El Segundo conducted a large burn-off Monday morning, creating a large plume of black smoke that was seen for miles across the Southland.

After the burn-off began around 7:30 a.m., many residents from El Segundo, Santa Monica, Manhattan Beach and La Brea took to social media and called the ABC7 newsroom with concerns about the smoke.
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El Segundo police described the burn-off event as "static" and said it posed no immediate health threats to the community.

The El Segundo Fire Department said the burn-off was not a planned event. Rather, it was triggered by a power failure. It was not known when the plant would be back up and running.

Refinery officials confirmed that a process unit at the refinery lost power, prompting a set of safety procedures to go into effect. These procedures include the activation of a safety flare. Refinery officials emphasized it was a controlled situation, and there was no threat to the community.
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