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San Joaquin Refining

San Joaquin Refining is an independent company that is in charge of one of three different oil refineries located in Bakersfield, California. The plant was first founded by the company in 1969 and ever since then it has been in operation every day of the year, which is an amazing feat. This oil refining plant has an output ability of 24,300 barrels of crude oil every day, and this is used mainly in the production of heavy naphthenic crude oil.

Naphthenic oil is a type of mineral oil that is used in the manufacture of paints, inks, lubricants, adhesives, and several other everyday products. It is a "heavy" oil, which means it cannot flow freely as it is too thick. As a result of its thickness, special equipment is needed in order to gather the oil from deep within the earth and bring it up to the surface.

Steam is pumped into the earth by large turbine machines so as to heat up the oil. After it reaches the appropriate temperature, the oil begins to lose its thickness and become more of a free flowing liquid form so that it is easily drained out. Pumping steam through the ground is called steam cogeneration, and the process even produces a huge amount of electricity. This electricity is kept aside and used to give power to over 1 million homes situated in the San Joaquin Valley.

Ever since it was established, the San Joaquin Refining Company has been deemed as a safe, responsible operation that has successfully avoided many of the common issues like excessive pollution and large fires that have affected several other oil refineries. The only problem they did run into was a serious health concern that was very common in practically all oil refinery sites in the United States, and this was the presence of asbestos.

Asbestos used to be considered an extremely beneficial material that had a large variety of useful applications. It was a useful ingredient in many products in industrial settings, like insulation, and it was extremely popular and quite valuable because it could cope with extreme temperatures. Soon it was discovered that asbestos causes respiratory problems if its particles were breathed in. With enough exposure, one could also be afflicted with mesothelioma, which is one of the deadliest forms of cancer. All the employees of this refinery were asked to contact a health care provider and ensure their lives were not at risk as soon as they could.

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