Flaring at Martinez refinery prompts community notification
Flaring at the Martinez Refinery Company early Friday morning prompted a company report to health officials and a subsequent community alert.
The refinery said it reported a Level 1 Community Awareness Message to Contra Costa Health at 5:47 a.m. because of the flaring. Following the message, CCH issued a notification telling residents, "You may hear, smell, or see signs related to this event; however no action is required."
Flaring at a refinery is a controlled burning of excess or waste gases, primarily hydrocarbons, done as a safety measure to prevent pressure buildup and potential explosions. MRC said that flaring events "are an essential part of a refinery's integrated, engineered safety systems, which are designed to safely manage excess gases and pressure through efficient, effective combustion."
In February, a fire at the refinery injured six workers and burned for three days, prompting the refinery to shut down all operations. Earlier this month, an independent report on the fire was released, indicating a lack of qualified contract workers, inadequate training and supervision, and California regulatory issues were among factors leading to the fire.
In April, the refinery began restarting some of its process units shut down because of the fire and MRC said it hopes to rebuild the damaged unit and reopen it by the fourth quarter of this year.
CCH offers more information on flaring and hazardous materials releases at https://cchealth.org/hazdash. MRC also provides additional information on flaring at https://martinezrefiningcompany.com/about-flaring/.
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