Brush Fire, More Flaring Caused By Restart: Martinez Refining Company

MARTINEZ, CA — Intermittent flaring continued over the weekend while the Martinez Refining Company re-started equipment that was shut down during the operational incident Friday at its refinery at 3485 Pacheco Blvd., the Martinez Refining Company reported.

Around 4:30 p.m. Sunday, Dec. 17, a ground flare was being used as part of the re-start process and caused visible black smoke and a brush fire, the refinery said.

The brush fire was extinguished around 5 p.m., according to a post on the Martinez Refining Company's Facebook page and on the homepage of its website.

"All appropriate agencies were notified, and we thank our responders for their safe, effective response," the refinery said. "We apologize for the concerns we caused the community and will be conducting a root cause analysis of the incident."

The refinery was referring to flaring Friday that led to a hazardous materials incident with strong odors in the greater Martinez area. A public health advisory was issued in Martinez and Pacheco for people with respiratory sensitivities. Although most people were not affected by the advisory, sensitive people who experienced skin, nose or throat irritation were advised to go inside and rinse the irritated area, Contra Costa County public health officials said.

Authorities lifted the health advisory around 5:45 p.m. Friday.

The refinery expects the potential for intermittent flaring to continue through this week.

"However, we are working hard to minimize flaring and to maintain clean combustion for any flaring that may occur," the refinery said.

Real-time air monitoring measurements can be viewed on the refinery's fenceline air monitoring website at http://www.fenceline.org/martinez/.

The refinery's community inquiry phone number is 925-313-3777 during regular business hours or 925-313-3601 during off-work hours.