The Martinez Refining Company announced that their namesake refinery had released a “small amount” of coke dust on Saturday, continuing a nearly 15- month pattern of chemical releases dating back to Thanksgiving, 2022.
The company said that the incident occurred at 1:15 p.m. on Saturday while petroleum coke, a black soot chemically similar to charcoal, was being transported within the refinery. On social media, the Martinez Refining Company said a “small amount” of the dust became airborne “for a short period of time,” but that their employees quickly responded. According to the statement, no coke dust escaped the refinery grounds.
Refinery officials did not explain how the dust became airborne.
Contra Costa Health, the county health agency, said they were informed soon after the incident and had deployed a hazmat team. Community members on Facebook expressed skepticism that the coke dust didn’t escape the refinery.
The refinery is facing a series of lawsuits and investigations for its chemical releases over the past year and a half, beginning with an incident on Thanksgiving eve, 2022, when more than 20 tons of spent catalyst containing heavy metals was released into the surrounding community.
The Martinez Refining company apologized for the latest incident, and offered a community inquiry phone number at 925-313-3777.