Refinery Releases Coke Dust, Delays Notification: County

MARTINEZ, CA — A hazardous materials release Tuesday morning from the Martinez Refining Company is being investigated by Contra Costa Health’s Hazardous Materials program.

MRC reported through the Community Warning System that the released material was coke dust, which is a byproduct of the petroleum refining process. MRC notified CCH of the release around 10:20 a.m. Tuesday through the CWS. MRC reported the release took place around 8:30 a.m. and lasted approximately one minute.

The release left coke — a black substance that looks like soot — on the ground, on parked cars, and on other surfaces in the neighborhoods surrounding the refinery, the county said. Residents can use soap and water to clean impacted outdoor surfaces, the county said.

A hazmat team worked Tuesday to assess potential health impacts.

During the active part of the incident earlier Tuesday, the public was advised to avoid breathing in breathing in or having close contact with the material. Tuesday evening, the release was no longer considered an active incident. Based on current information, the incident when active was mostly likely a Level 1 — the lowest severity level — a spokesperson for CCH told Patch.

"We are continuing to investigate and testing samples of the released material before we can say for sure," the spokesperson said.

The hazmat team collected samples of the substance and sent them to a lab for analysis.

"We are very concerned about the delayed notification to the Community Warning System," said Contra Costa County Supervisor Federal Glover, who represents Martinez as part of District 5. "We are once again responding to a refinery incident and trying to determine the health impacts. We understand this is an ongoing concern for our community and timely notification is critical."

Lab results are expected by the end of the week, and CCH said it would provide updates once the results are reviewed.

CCH requested a 72-hour report from MRC about the incident and will post the report online at cchealth.org.

Martinez Refining Company Statement

Around noon Tuesday, the Martinez Refining Company issued this statement on social media:

"This morning the refinery experienced a brief release of Coke dust. We have issued a Community Warning System Level 1 notification, and our refinery personnel are conducting community monitoring. We have also notified appropriate agencies and apologize for any inconvenience this may have caused our neighbors.

"If you have a claim or concern related to this morning’s release of Coke dust, or would like to speak with a company representative, please call our claims representative at 800-542-7113 and leave the following information: Full Name, Complete Address, Telephone Number, Email address."

Martinez Alerts

The City of Martinez emailed an alert Tuesday afternoon to people who are signed up for the existing City of Martinez e-Newsletter.

The city stated in the email that it is implementing a new alerting system – Martinez Alerts – to supplement the Community Warning System and provide timely alerts to the community and interested parties.

"This new alert and warning system, powered by Rave, enables us to provide you with critical information quickly in a variety of situations, such as health alerts, severe weather, unexpected road closures, police activity, missing persons and evacuations of buildings or neighborhoods," the city said. "You can receive time-sensitive messages however you specify, including text, email, or voice."

To sign up, go to martinezalerts.com or cityofmartinez.org/departments/police/martinez-alerts.