Heat from Martinez refinery flaring sparked fire, air officials say

Amy Larson
·2 min read
3

(KRON) — Bay Area air quality authorities said flaring at Martinez Refining Company sparked a grass fire over the weekend.

As of Monday afternoon, the Bay Area Air Quality Management District issued the following notice of violations to the refinery for Sunday’s incident:

  • Public Nuisance

  • Visible emission standard exceeded

  • Illegal fire on a no burn day

The air district said it received a Contra Costa County Community Warning System Level 1 alert from the refinery at 4:26 p.m. Sunday.

The refinery’s alert stated that a smoke plume was being generated by a “grass fire,” but it did not mention refinery flaring, air district officials said.

“The alert specifically stated that the smoke was from a grass fire. The alert did not mention flaring directly. But when Air District staff contacted MRC to discuss the CWS Level 1 alert, they said the grass fire was caused by ‘the heat of the flare,'” BAAQMD wrote.

A witness sent air district officials a photograph of a thick, black smoke plume billowing into the air. BAAQMD had a “Spare the Air” order in effect at the time.

A smoke plume is seen near the Martinez refinery on Dec. 17, 2023. (Image via Bay Area Air Quality Management District)
A smoke plume is seen near the Martinez refinery on Dec. 17, 2023. (Image via Bay Area Air Quality Management District)

The fire burned from 4:20 p.m. until 5:10 p.m., when it was extinguished by Contra Costa County firefighters.

Martinez Refining Company apologized for “concerns we caused the community.”

A company spokesperson issued a statement to KRON4 writing, “At approximately 4:30 p.m. on December 17, a ground flare was in operation as part of the re-start process that caused visible black smoke and a brush fire. All appropriate agencies were notified, and we thank our responders for their safe, effective response. We apologize for the concerns we caused the community and will be conducting a root cause analysis of the incident. Looking forward, we expect the potential for intermittent flaring to last through most of this week.”

On Monday morning, air district staff, a Contra Costa County HazMat team, and Contra Costa County Fire personnel returned to the refinery to investigate. The investigation is on-going, air district officials said.

Martinez Refining Company is located at 3485 Pacheco Boulevard.

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