County seeks independent investigation into Martinez refinery release over Thanksgiving
MARTINEZ – Contra Costa Health (CCH) is recommending that the county lead an independent, community-involved investigation into November's hazardous material release at Martinez Refining Company (MRC).
The release, which started Thanksgiving evening, blanketed the surrounding community in metal-laden dust and wasn't reported to the county health department, which confirmed it with the company days later after hearing about it from residents on social media.
In a statement released late Wednesday, CCH said it will ask the Contra Costa County Industrial Safety Ordinance (ISO) Ad Hoc Committee, which is appointed by the county Board of Supervisors, for the investigation.
CCH said it notified MRC that, based on its initial investigation, it has determined the Nov. 24-25 release was a Major Chemical Accident or Release (MCAR), a legal designation allowing CCH to thoroughly investigate the cause of the release through an independent investigation. The department will also perform followup work to fill safety gaps, and publicly report its activities.
CCH told MRC in a letter Wednesday that the refinery violated state law and local policy when it failed to report the airborne release of more than 20 tons of "spent catalyst," a substance that laboratory testing later showed to contain elevated levels of heavy metals.
CCH said it's investigating the release for potential enforcement action, including a case referral to the Contra Costa County District Attorney's Office.
A message left for the Martinez Refining Company on Thursday morning wasn't immediately returned.
"Contra Costa County will not sweep this incident under the rug," county Supervisor Federal Glover, whose district includes Martinez, said in a statement. "This dangerous release of hazardous materials affects the health of our community, and the refinery's failure to notify in a timely way obstructed an emergency response that could have reduced harm. My office is working closely with CCH to fully investigate this incident as provided in the County's Industrial Safety Ordinance."
CCH said it will recommend the county organize an independent, community-involved investigation of the incident, parallel to the investigation MRC is required to conduct, at the January meeting of Contra Costa County's Ad Hoc Committee for the Industrial Safety Ordinance and Community Warning System.
The release began about 9:30 p.m. Nov. 24 and continued into the morning of Nov. 25, showering a dust-like substance onto the surrounding community. CCH said MRC didn't report the release via the county's community warning system or directly to CCH, as required by county policy.
CCH said it only learned about the release from media accounts two days after it started. The department's subsequent laboratory testing showed the substance contained elevated levels of aluminum, barium, chromium, nickel, vanadium, and zinc. Prolonged exposure to these metals can lead to health concerns.
While airborne, the substance could have also potentially caused respiratory symptoms in people who breathed it. CCH says that if MRC would've followed the notification policy, the county would've activated the community warning system to notify the community and limit its exposure.
"Our mission at CCH is to care for the health of our community. We can't meet that obligation without timely notification from a facility when an incident like this happens," CCH chief executive officer Anna Roth said. "Our hazardous materials team responds quickly to these notices to ensure people have the information they need, when they need it, to take protective actions. We will work with residents of Martinez, city leaders and the facility on a transparent investigation into why that did not happen in this case."
The release, as well as a flaring incident last week that prompted dozens of 911 calls, have raised safety concerns in surrounding neighborhoods and generated many questions about health.
The flaring began at 4:46 p.m. last Friday, when a loud noise and a large flame from a refinery flare prompted dozens of 911 calls from around the refinery.
Fire and refinery officials quickly determined the flare was operating as designed and didn't pose a fire-related safety risk to the surrounding community. CCH conducted air monitoring and determined there was no health risk to the community from gases leaving the refinery.
The flaring remains under investigation. MRC's 72-hour report about it, as well as all public documents related to the November release, are available at cchealth.org/hazmat.