Martinez Refining Company Statement on Thursday Flaring

Less than a week after the City of Martinez held a townhall on recent flaring events at the Martinez Refining Company, Martinez residents were greeted to another flaring event.

The flaring event Thursday began just after 9:00 pm at the Martinez Refining Company on Pacheco Blvd. in Contra Costa County.

Here is the statement released Thursday by the Martinez Refining Company:

Earlier this evening, the refinery experienced a power dip this evening that caused a brief flaring event at the refinery. The cause of the electrical disruption is under investigation. Refinery operations are stable.

We apologize for impacting some of our neighbors and thank our employees who safely responded.

Flares are an essential part of a refinery’s integrated, engineered safety systems. Flares are designed to safely manage excess combustible gases, by burning them off efficiently and effectively. As always, we have a community inquiry phone number you can call 925-313-3777 or 925-313-3601 during off work hours. 

Contra Costa Health Services said just before 10:00 pm that the flaring had stopped and were working with the Air District and real-time air monitoring data shows there is no imminent health risk to the community at this time. More details would be made available in MRC’s 72-hour report, due to CCH by end of day on Monday due to the holiday

The following recap was provided by City of Martinez

Recap: Town Hall about Martinez Refinery Events

Flaring could be observed from Benicia

Thank you to all who attended the City’s virtual town hall on Monday night regarding recent events at the Martinez Refinery. The city created a dedicated webpage — www.cityofmartinez.org/martinezrefinery — where a link to the video of Monday’s town hall is available, along with general information about events that have occurred, any related reports from Contra Costa Health (CCH) and the Air District, and ways the community can stay informed on these matters.

There were many great questions that were shared at the Town Hall with participation from local elected officials, regulatory agencies, City and County officials and staff, and the Refinery. We are confident that future investigatory steps taken by the County will help answer many of these questions. We plan to establish a “Q&A” section on our webpage to track these questions.

Contra Costa Health has also shared the following information with us about their next steps, which include:

• An enforcement case referral they plan to make to the Contra Costa District Attorney’s Office ~ Friday, January 6, 2023.
• A tentatively scheduled meeting of the Industrial Safety Ordinance Ad Hoc Committee of the County Board of Supervisors on Thursday, January 12, 2023, at 9:30 a.m. Once an agenda is published, we will share widely with the community. At this meeting, the establishment of oversight committee with the responsibility of conducting an independent investigation and a community risk assessment of the spent catalyst release on November 24-25, 2022, will be recommended by CCH.

CCH has already issued two inspection reports on December 15 to the Martinez Refining Company identifying their failure to notify CCH officials of a chemical release and on a discharge of hazardous materials into the stormwater system. This information will be included with the enforcement case referral.

Resources:

• Watch the Town Hall recording

Stay informed by following: www.cityofmartinez.org/martinezrefinery

Previous Stories:

• Dec. 19: Martinez Announces Town Hall Meeting to Discuss Martinez Refining Company Incidents
• Dec. 14: Contra Costa Health Recommends an Independent Investigation of Martinez Refinery Release
• Dec. 9: Flaring Friday Night at the Martinez Refining Company