Julie Small [00:01:31] Well, I met her at her home. She lives in a neighborhood that’s on a hillside kind of above the Martinez refinery.
Julie Small [00:01:41] She was at home with her two girls on a Saturday when she noticed a message on Facebook about a fire at the refinery.
Lizzie Lara [00:01:52] I kind of looked outside because we can see it from the front of our house and it looked like there was some smoke coming up, but nothing out of the ordinary.
Julie Small [00:02:00] Then she got a notice from County Health warning that the air could be dangerous for people with asthma.
Lizzie Lara [00:02:06] And so I said, okay. I turned on our air purifiers and, you know, just decided to kind of monitor it.
Julie Small [00:02:14] She wasn’t particularly afraid at that point. So she went upstairs. She was watching TV. But then she started hearing strange noises coming from the direction of the refinery that she’s never heard in all the years that she lived there.
Lizzie Lara [00:02:28] It’s like pop, pop, pop. And I was, like, concerning, but okay. And then all of a sudden, it sounded like almost like a military jet taking off. And then I looked out the window and you could see fire and just like a huge black cloud coming from the refinery.
Julie Small [00:02:47] So she put her daughter’s and she grabbed her two dogs in the car and left.
Cecilia Lei [00:02:57] It’s been some days now since the incident. What have we learned about the cause?
Julie Small [00:03:03] Well, the company thinks that the fire started when a couple of their workers were doing maintenance. While they were opening the equipment, hydrocarbon material started to leak and the two workers immediately evacuated the area. And then that material just caught fire and and it spread.
Cecilia Lei [00:03:21] Julie, the county waited three hours before issuing a shelter in place order to residents. Days later, that was downgraded to a health advisory. What kind of risks were residents facing?
Julie Small [00:03:35] Well, we know that the company said what burned is hydrocarbons, which are basically the fuel that they refine at Martinez. That caught on fire and it released sulfur dioxide into the air. That creates typically the smell like rotten eggs. According to the California Air Resources Board, a lot of studies have shown that sulfur dioxide has adverse health effects on humans and animals. And if it and if people are exposed at high levels, that can include risks to your to your heart, cardiac arrest, you know, some kinds of heart diseases and an increased risk of death. The effects on people in Martinez and the folks working at the refinery and the first responders, you know, we’ll have to see. It depends on how much of the stuff actually got released and for how long. We do know that six employees were treated and examined for injuries. They’ve all been released. The company reported that at least 500 pounds of this stuff was released, but probably is a lot more. We won’t know until the various regulators complete their investigation of the fire.
Cecilia Lei [00:04:42] Well, Julie, let’s take a step back a little bit, because I’m curious to just learn more about this facility itself. Tell me what it produces and what do we know about its owners?
Julie Small [00:04:53] Well, this refinery is over 100 years old. It used to belong to Shell Company, but they sold it to the current owners of PBF Energy in 2020. That company is actually based in New Jersey, but it owns a few refineries across the nation, including here in California. At this Martinez refinery, they produce about 30% of the jet fuel used in California, along with diesel and other fuels.
Cecilia Lei [00:05:23] So, Julie, you spoke to some residents in Martinez, and this fire has certainly revived some long term concerns from community members. Tell me why and what are they worried about?
Julie Small [00:05:35] Bottom line, they’re worried about history repeating itself. In 2022 right after Thanksgiving dinner, and people woke up the next morning in Martinez to a blanket of white powder. It looked like ash. Nobody knew what it was. There was no warning issued. It took the company a week to notify them that the substance was spent catalyst, basically a byproduct of refining. And then in 2023, there were two more releases of petroleum coke. That’s also a refining byproduct that looks a lot like coal. It’s made of particulate matter and it can irritate the lungs. But, you know, it’s just one thing after another as far as residents are concerned.
Cecilia Lei [00:06:18] And I understand truly that residents have taken it upon themselves to do something to try to keep their community safe. Tell me more about those efforts.
Julie Small [00:06:27] That released that happened in 2022 of the spent catalysts where it like rained ash over the city of Martinez, that was a wake up call for residents. And a number of them got together and formed this nonprofit grassroots group called Healthy Martinez.
Julie Small [00:06:53] Two of the members of Healthy Martinez showed up at the Air District Board meeting this week. Alicia Gide spoke first and then Heidi Taylor.
Heidi Taylor [00:07:02] I just want to say for the last two years, I’ve been to hundreds of meetings.
Julie Small [00:07:06] They’re seeking answers. They want accountability for the releases. They want the company held accountable.
Heidi Taylor [00:07:12] They have asked me and our community trust them. And I tell you this, we will never trust them.
Julie Small [00:07:24] They want more information. They say there’s no public information about what’s being released in the air. And they’re really looking to regulators to get much more aggressive in their monitoring and in finding the company and restricting the operations.
Cecilia Lei [00:07:44] Well, Julie, I wonder what has been the reaction from city leaders and other public officials.
Julie Small [00:07:51] Well, our congressman Mark DeSaulnier, this is his district. He called for a temporary closure of the refinery while this fire is being investigated. The mayor, Brianne Zorn, wants to see the company do more to create a safe work environment to improve the safety of the facility.
Brianne Zorn [00:08:12] We’ve had coke dust releases. We’ve had hydrogen sulfide releases. There’s a lot of different chemicals associated with the refinery that we have had to learn about, the community has had to learn about and become aware of what those impacts might be.
Julie Small [00:08:26] She says she doesn’t have the authority to call for the shut down of the refinery. But she is pushing to make sure that the regulatory agencies do their jobs.
Brianne Zorn [00:08:37] It’s important to remember that the Martinez Refining company has Martinez in the name, but it’s not in Martinez. It’s in Contra Costa County. We are simply advocating for our communities, but the decisions are in the hands of other folks.
Julie Small [00:08:52] And she didn’t say it explicitly, but I think she thinks they should be doing a lot more and being more aggressive with the company to ensure that they are running their operations safely.
Cecilia Lei [00:09:06] And how has the Martinez Refining Company responded to these concerns and these community reactions?
Julie Small [00:09:13] Well, the company has responded by making itself available to the public. They set up a 24 hour phone bank where residents can call in. They say they’re ready to help people make claims for damages.
Brandon Matson [00:09:25] As you’re aware, we had a fire that we’ve been responding to at the refinery this past weekend.
Julie Small [00:09:30] Brandon Mattson, the spokesperson for MRC, has made a point to show up at a number of public forums this week following the fire. Here he is addressing the Bay Area Quality Board on Wednesday.
Brandon Matson [00:09:41] I know there’s a lot of anger and frustration from the community about the incident. And I know there’s nothing that I can say to alleviate that. I’m here to just be present.
Julie Small [00:09:51] He apologized for the incidents and promised to be forthcoming and cooperative with all the investigations.
Cecilia Lei [00:10:02] Well, Julie, even with that presence from the company, are there still questions that are left unanswered for Martina’s residents?
Julie Small [00:10:10] Well, there’s so many questions that are left unanswered for them. I mean, how did this fire spread so quickly? Why did it take the county three hours to call for shelter in place after the fire broke out, after they were notified? How much of this these hydrocarbons were released into the atmosphere? For how long? What are the long term effects on residents and workers? Probably one of the biggest questions they have is what is the company going to do different and what are regular just going to do different to prevent this from happening again?
Cecilia Lei [00:10:43] And Julie, there’s also the accountability question, too, right? I mean, we know that this facility sits in an unincorporated part of the county. So who is ultimately responsible for making sure that something like this doesn’t happen again?
Julie Small [00:10:58] Well, the responsibility ultimately lies with the company, of course, but there are a lot of county and state regulators who are also looking at this and have some jurisdiction over various aspects of the refinery. But I think people are really looking to the Air Board, which monitors refinery emissions for toxicity and pollutants, and has taken a much more aggressive stance recently towards refineries in the Bay Area. And they’re investigating this fire and people will be looking to see what they find and what they do to hold the company accountable.
Cecilia Lei [00:11:31] So an investigation is underway. But, you know, thinking about Lizzie Lara and other Martinez residents you spoke to, what are they need right now in order to feel safe living so close to this refinery?
Julie Small [00:11:44] They want to see greater oversight. They want an improvement in the warning system. Residents really felt like it didn’t match what they were seeing. And they’re asking for an investigation by the Chemical Safety Board. Ultimately, though, a lot of people like Lizzie Lara, say they’re just not going to feel comfortable until this refinery is shut down.
