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CBS News
13-03-2025
- General
- CBS News
Contra Costa supervisor to host town hall on Martinez refinery fire
Contra Costa County Supervisor Shanelle Scales-Preston will hold a town hall meeting Thursday evening on last month's Martinez Refining Company fire. The meeting will run from 6:30 p.m. to 8 p.m. at John Muir Elementary School at 205 Vista Way in Martinez. The refinery is in Scales-Preston's District 5. Scales-Preston will be joined by representatives of Contra Costa Health, the refinery, Contra Costa's hazardous materials team, Contra Costa County Fire Protection District, the county's Community Warning System, Bay Area Air District, Martinez Public Works Department, and the Contra Costa Water District. An explosion and fire were reported at approximately 1:30 p.m. Feb. 1, when two workers opened equipment while preparing for planned maintenance on a process unit. MRC, which is owned by PBF Energy Inc., said hydrocarbon material started leaking, prompting workers to flee. The material caught fire, which spread into a blaze that produced heavy smoke and burned for three days. The county issued a shelter-in-place alert at 4:49 p.m. Feb. 1 for neighborhoods near the refinery, and the alert was lifted at about 9 p.m. Six workers were injured, though none seriously, refinery officials said. MRC said 170 barrels -- 7,140 gallons -- of hydrocarbon materials were released during the fire, most of which they said were consumed by the flames. Contra Costa Health said chemicals and combustion byproducts from the fire included those that cause cancer, heart and lung disease. County health officer Dr. Ori Tzvieli said Martinez residents were fortunate the wind blew most of the toxic smoke north of the refinery, away from populated areas. CCH also said air quality measurements taken during the incident showed concentrations of chemicals in the air during the event were mostly below the threshold considered dangerous. MRC in a 30-day report after the fire said that because of flaring arising from the unplanned shutdown of refinery operating units to respond to the fire, more than 500 pounds of sulfur dioxide were released. The Bay Area Air District cited MRC for visible emissions and odor caused by the fire, for visible emissions and fallout exceeding standards, and for not operating equipment as needed. CCH said air district samples taken during the fire were consistent with its findings: that cancer-causing chemicals in the air north of the refinery were above "historical background levels." MRC said it expects to be done investigating the fire by April 30. The refinery has experienced multiple problems the past few years, including releases of coke dust -- a black, sooty substance created during the petroleum refining process. The most notable case was a release of 20-24 tons of spent catalyst on Thanksgiving 2022 that coated homes and vehicles of Martinez residents, who weren't made aware of the release until two days later.
CBS News
12-02-2025
- Health
- CBS News
Martinez refinery fire released chemicals that cause cancer, heart and lung disease
Contra Costa Health on Tuesday responded to a Martinez Refining Company report that chemicals and combustion byproducts from the three-day fire earlier this month included those that can cause cancer, and heart and lung disease. County health officer Dr. Ori Tzvieli said in a statement the community was fortunate the wind blew most of the toxic smoke north of the refinery and away from populated areas. "This could have been much worse," Tzvieli said. "We got lucky this time. But our community shouldn't have to rely on luck." At approximately 1:30 p.m., Feb. 1, two workers opened equipment to prepare for planned maintenance on one of the refinery's process units, which was shut down Jan. 30. MRC - which is owned by PBF Energy - said hydrocarbon material started to leak and the workers evacuated the area. The material caught fire, which spread within the immediate vicinity. Both workers were transported offsite for medical evaluation and released. Four other workers were also injured, though none seriously, the refinery said. County officials issued a shelter-in-place alert at 4:49 p.m. for specific neighborhoods near the refinery, which was lifted about 9 p.m. Contra Costa's Community Warning System issued a Level 3 alert, the most severe in its four-tier system, which begins at Level 0. Though under control, the fire burned for three days. On Feb. 5, CCH asked MRC to disclose what products were released or caught fire during the blaze in a mandated 72-hour report, which CCH received Friday. MRC said chemical products involved included naphtha (petroleum), light thermal and light catalytic cracked; distillates (petroleum), light catalytic cracked; isobutane-rich C3-C4; diethanolamine; and intermed cat cracked. Combustion byproducts from the fire included particulate matter from the smoke, benzene, hydrogen sulfide, sulfur dioxide, and xylene. CCH said air-quality measurements taken by its hazmat staff during the fire showed concentrations of chemicals in the air were mostly below the threshold considered dangerous. There was a brief period when smoke remained close to the ground and particulate matter north of the refinery was measured at a high level. Health officials said that because it was only a short period, they didn't expect a significant health impact on most people in the area. The Bay Area Air District also took air samples during the fire, which the health department will review when results are available. The county's health advisory remained in effect until the fire was completely extinguished Feb. 4. CCH said the combustion byproducts pose the greatest health concern. The agency said it will work with a toxicologist to assess whether there may be any long-term health impacts, including potential impacts to soil and water. MRC is scheduled to provide CCH a 30-day follow-up report in early March. CCH said the county will hire a firm to do an independent root-cause analysis to determine why the fire started and how another can be prevented. The fire is the latest safety lapse at MRC in recent years. In Nov. 2022, the refinery accidentally released tons of toxic spent-catalyst dust in the surrounding community. For more information, go to .
