Crockett: Steam, loud roar attributed to safety valve at power plant
CROCKETT – A loud roaring noise from the Crockett Cogeneration power plant jolted Contra Costa and Solano county residents from their slumber late Monday night.
The sound started shortly before 11 p.m. and lasted about 15 minutes. At the same time, a large plume of steam billowed above the plant.
An employee who was not authorized to speak on the record said the noise was caused by a safety valve.
“We had a safety valve lift because we lost control of one of our steam valves,” the plant employee said, “but the safety is doing what it’s supposed to do, letting out steam.”
There did not appear to be any immediate threat to public safety.
The incident was not related to a magnitude 1.8 earthquake the U.S. Geological Survey said struck around the same time in Rodeo, east-northeast of Franklin Canyon and just south of Barry Hill Road, at a depth of just over 5 miles.
Founded in 1996, the gas-powered cogeneration plant sells electricity to Pacific Gas & Electric and steam to the adjacent C&H Sugar Factory, which is used in the sugar refining process.
During the incident, residents in Crockett, Vallejo and Benicia exited their homes and tried to make sense of what was happening, some tensely joking that an alien invasion was coming, or that an oil refinery had exploded.
Crockett was quiet again by 11:30 p.m. There was hardly a soul on the streets, fire trucks were back in their station and sugar factory workers were going about their normal business.
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Source:mercurynews.com
