Martinez refinery reports another release of petcoke dust
The Martinez Refining Company (MRC) notified the county health department Friday morning of a release of petroleum coke dust, the most recent in a series of recent releases.
MRC said the release at about 10:31 a.m. was an isolated incident related to maintenance at the facility. Contra Costa Health said the department deployed a hazardous materials team to investigate the petcoke release and the team reported no visible coke dust in the community.
That assertion was disputed by a Los Angeles Times assistant editor who lives in the area.
Are you sure? Me and some neighbors see some sort of grey and black dust all over. https://t.co/qxEyKt7Lhg pic.twitter.com/HqS8Memqgn
— Javier Panzar (@jpanzar) October 6, 2023
A subsequent statement from Contra Costa Health Friday said there was no evidence of any immediate risk to public health in the surrounding communities.
MRC said there would not be any additional maintenance on Friday, and workers would use a different process to complete the work. The county said the nearby Alhambra High School homecoming parade Friday night and other community events can proceed as planned.
The county said it has asked MRC to provide a 72-hour report regarding the cause of the release, which will be posted at cchealth.org/hazmat.
In July, there were two petcoke releases from the refinery within the span of 11 days. The refinery says the coke dust primarily contains carbon, and is chemically similar to charcoal. The health department said health concerns from petcoke exposure could include throat, lungs and respiratory system irritation.
Last month, residents who live near MRC voiced their concerns to Contra Costa Health over the refinery's spent catalyst release in November 2022. The refinery released 20-24 tons of spent catalyst beginning on Thanksgiving night and continuing until the next day.
The material was comprised of elevated levels of aluminum, barium, chromium, nickel, vanadium, and zinc, all of which health officials say can cause respiratory problems.
The county criticized MRC for not alerting the county about the release immediately as is required by law. Both the Contra Costa County District Attorney's Office and the U.S. Department of Justice were investigating the incident.
A toxicologist hired by the county said in June that the November 2022 release didn't increase public health risks from exposure to hazardous materials in nearby soil. However, the findings didn't account for any effects on people who breathed in the dust during the release and in the immediate days afterward, county officials said.