Chevron's Delayed Cleanup Threatens Pacific Fusion Deal in Alameda

The Urgent Need for Environmental Remediation at Alameda Point

The cleanup of petroleum concentrations left behind by an oil refinery at Alameda Point in the early 1900s has not been a top priority until recently. This changed when a startup company, Pacific Fusion, approached City Hall in 2024 with a proposal to purchase approximately 12 acres of land, including the area where the old refinery once stood. The proposed project involves building a demonstration research facility, backed by $900 million in investment capital.

Two years prior, in 2022, the Regional Water Quality Control Board (Water Board) had reached a voluntary agreement with Chevron, which acquired the refinery in the early 1900s and later closed it down. The agreement required Chevron to clean up the site to meet regulatory standards. However, Chevron missed its two deadlines for submitting a cleanup plan—first on February 28, 2025, and then on July 18, 2025.

Meanwhile, on July 16, 2025, the New Mexico Economic Development Department and Pacific Fusion issued a joint news release announcing they had signed a memorandum of understanding to pursue the siting of a research and development facility in Albuquerque. Keith LeChien, Cofounder and Chief Technology Officer at Pacific Fusion, stated that New Mexico is a natural fit for this project.

On August 1, 2025, the City of Alameda sent a letter of urgency to the Water Board, urging the agency to hold Chevron accountable for timely cleanup efforts. The city expressed concern that Pacific Fusion might lose patience with the delays and choose another location for its facility. In June, the City Council had approved a purchase option agreement for the development of a first-of-its-kind nuclear fusion demonstration facility.

“However, Pacific Fusion is considering several sites for this project, including one outside of California, and they are expressing serious concerns about selecting Alameda as their facility site due to Chevron’s inability to meet its deadlines to the Water Board,” said Assistant City Manager Amy Wooldridge in the letter, co-signed by Mayor Marilyn Ezzy Ashcraft.

The deadline for submitting a cleanup plan was extended from February 28, 2025, to July 18, 2025, at Chevron’s request so they could perform more soil testing. However, Chevron has not even started the additional testing, leading to further frustration over the delays.

Chevron has claimed that the delays have been caused by the City not issuing permits, according to the City’s letter to the Water Board. The City counters that the permits were not sought until July and were issued in a timely manner. “Chevron could have applied for these permits months ago, and we had several conversations with Chevron inquiring as to why they were not starting the sampling work concurrently with the Vulnerability Assessment,” the letter states.

While the City appreciates Chevron’s efforts to voluntarily come to the table, it notes that Chevron has not shown a willingness to execute on a timely remediation schedule. “The City and the State of California are now at risk of losing a major employer and clean energy innovator to another state because of these delays. We ask that the Water Board increase its enforcement of Chevron’s cleanup obligations, before Pacific Fusion decides to build this facility outside of California.”

The City is asking the Water Board to ensure that Chevron submits its cleanup plan and companion document, called a Vulnerability Assessment, no later than September 15. The assessment will evaluate the potential impacts from sea level and groundwater rise.

Previously, the City had hoped that the on-site remediation would be completed by the end of January 2026 to meet Pacific Fusion’s goal of beginning work in early 2026. According to a letter sent to the Water Board on May 27, Pacific Fusion Chief Operating Officer Carrie Von Muench told the Albuquerque Journal that the company “will make a decision this fall whether the R&D facility will be in Albuquerque, Alameda, California, or Livermore, California.”

The Alameda Post reached out to Chevron for comment but had not received a response at the time of publication.

Contributing writer Richard Bangert posts stories and photos about environmental issues on his blog Alameda Point Environmental Report. His writing is collected at HAWXTECH/Richard-Bangert.