Council to Address Refinery Safety, Hidden Lakes Pond Fish Kill at Wednesday Meeting; MUSD Talks Affordable Housing
Draft comment letter includes criticisms of MRC Safety Culture Assessment; council to review recommendations for preventing another fish kill at pond; school district wants to explore worker housing
A draft comment letter that the City Council will consider submitting on the county’s independent Safety Culture Assessment of PBF Energy’s Martinez refinery includes several criticisms of the report and the time it has taken to investigate the various incidents at the facility.
The council will take up the letter at Wednesday’s City Council meeting in the context of the public comment period, which runs through Sept. 16, for the report by consultant Scott Berger and Associates.
The Safety Culture Assessment, which was reported in depth in a recent post of this newsletter, includes a mix of praise for Martinez Refining Co.’s safety practices and specific recommendations for improvement. But the the city’s draft comment letter, signed by Mayor Brianne Zorn, critiques the report as falling short in some areas while also expressing broader frustration with Contra Costa Health’s slow-moving investigations of the incidents that began with community outrage stemming from the toxic spent catalyst release in November 2022.
The draft comment letter address three key issues of concern:
The use of “stop work authority” by refinery personnel to halt operations when safety concerns arise. The comment letter points out that while Berger’s report indicated that workers were “comfortable” using the authority, they “simultaneously felt pressure to get the job done and potential negative impacts from using it.” This indicates that refinery leadership could do a better job of promoting “stop work authority,” the comment leader reads, and that Berger’s report should call out the issue more clearly in a “plain language recommendation.”
Disappointment in the length of time it has taken to conduct three key investigations related to the 2022 spent catalyst incident: the reporting of soil test results in June 2023 from the 24 tons of heavy metal-laden dust that was released into the community; the root cause analysis of the incident itself in March 2024; and the Safety Culture Assessment, released last month. “These long timeframes are frustrating for both residents and local leaders who are trying to advocate for our communities,” the letter reads. “The delay in presenting information means that misinformation is communicated first and often is never corrected.” The city “strongly favors” a proposal to keep qualified firms “on retainer” to investigate similar incidents and issues in the future.
The letter criticizes the assessment for being too narrowly focused on “process safety,” arguing that it “neglects a more comprehensive, holistic look at safety.” This comment goes on to argue that “should there be future incidents requiring similar investigations – they would benefit from more broad examinations.”
The letter concludes by listing specific actions the city has taken since the spent catalyst release to try to protect the community, in some cases responding to what city officials have seen as shortcomings from other regulatory agencies. They are as follows:
Encouraging transparency in fence line air quality monitoring to be able to view historical fence line data, in addition to the real-time data currently shown.
Partnering with the Bay Area Air Quality Management District (BAAQMD) to site a community air monitoring station. “This has been paid for by the refinery for years, but we have yet to see that installed and have had to advocate for this at the city level,” the letter reads.
“The County Community Warning System (CWS) has not met expectations for the Martinez community, so the Martinez Alerts system was put in place by the city of Martinez to ensure that our community has appropriate communications when there are incidents at the refinery, regardless of the severity.”
There will be an opportunity for members of the public to comment on the city’s draft comment letter during Wednesday’s council discussion. The meeting starts at 7 p.m. at the City Council chamber and will also be accessible via Zoom. It will be preceded by a special study session at 5:30 p.m. to discuss a federal grant application for addressing climate change and sea level rise, environmental justice, and helping transform and revitalize the Martinez Waterfront and Marina. The agendas can be found at the following link: https://granicus_production_attachments.s3.amazonaws.com/martinez/374040af483d2df9422be98c0b894ab30.pdf
Members of the public also can submit their own comments on the Berger report via email to hazmat.arpteam@cchealth.org or by regular mail to Contra Costa Health Hazardous Materials Programs, Attn: Michael Dossey, 4585 Pacheco Blvd., Ste. 100, Martinez CA 94553.
Hidden Lakes Pond
The City Council on Wednesday also will hear a report about the significant fish kill at Hidden Lakes Pond stemming from an algae overgrowth incident in July and recommendations to prevent future episodes.
According to the city report prepared by Public Works Director Joe Enke, a state Department of Fish & Wildlife investigation concluded that the “severe depletion” of dissolved oxygen levels in the pond, exacerbated by hot weather, led to the kill of largemouth bass, bluegill and common carp. Dissolved oxygen levels plummeted when the city’s contractor used an algaecide approved by the U.S. Environmental Protection Agency to control algae overgrowth in the pond. The resulting algae die off and decomposition of plant matter in the pond caused dissolved oxygen levels to plummet. Additionally, a new “subsurface diffused aeration system” in the pond may have led to more algae growth by stirring up bottom sediments.
The report lists three recommendations to prevent a repeat occurrence:
Increased sampling and water monitoring to help manage aquatic vegetation;
Ensuring that any algaecide treatments used in the future are applied before vegetation in the pond reaches levels where a resulting die off would deplete dissolved oxygen levels to the point at which another fish kill might occur;
Documenting and monitoring the populations of fish currently in the pond
The report also notes that the lower pond’s aeration system went out of service in July and a new subsurface system, similar to the one in the main pond where the fish kill occurred, was installed on Aug. 6. It “has been functioning as expected.”
The city has spent $20,600 between fiscal year 2024 and so far in 2025 on maintenance services at the pond, including the new aeration systems.
MUSD looks to explore workforce housing
The Martinez Unified School District Board of Trustees discussed a proposed resolution at its Aug. 26 board meeting that would direct Superintendent Helen Rossi to explore opportunities to create workforce housing on underutilized district properties.
The move comes as school districts such as MUSD — along with other employers in the public and private sectors — face increasing challenges hiring a quality workforce in light of a growing affordability crisis in the region. That crisis has pushed MUSD to hand out a series of large pay raises in recent years as its workers struggle with inflation and skyrocketing housing costs, which in turn have created growing budget challenges for the district and forced it to dip deeply into its reserves.
With efforts at the state and federal levels so far failing to make a significant dent in the crisis, the school board now wants the district to try to take matters into its own hands.
The resolution acknowledges that affordable housing locally is in “dangerously low supply” and that “working families are finding it increasingly difficult to purchase or rent a home within a close proximity to the district’s boundaries.” That, in turn, is hindering the district’s ability to recruit and retain the staff it needs to implement educational programs “to benefit the students living within the district’s boundaries.”
Board members and staff emphasized at the meeting that this would a preliminary, long-term process, and that the district has no specific plans for what kind of housing it might try to create or where.
“I foresee it being a very long process, but we’ve got to start somewhere, so this is a start,” board President Courtney Masella-O’Brien said at the meeting.
Added Rossi: “This is so beginning that it’s just about the word ‘explore.’ ”
There has been talk of potentially using the current Adult Education property on Alhambra Avenue as a site for workforce housing, and relocating the adult center elsewhere. That would likely hinge on the passage of a construction bond measure on the November ballot.
Rossi also mentioned that the district owns property behind Alhambra High School that could be explored for housing development.
The resolution is expected to come back for board action at its next meeting on Monday.
More West Nile in Martinez
The Contra Costa Mosquito and Vector Control District reported on Friday that another group of trapped mosquitoes in Martinez tested positive for West Nile virus.
The district also confirmed in a news release that it’s collected an invasive, non-native mosquito in North Concord commonly known as the “Yellow Fever Mosquito” that can be aggressive, bite during the day, and “transmit pathogens that cause dangerous diseases including dengue fever, Zika virus, and chikungunya.”
“Report day-biting mosquitoes to the district and dump out and scrub any water-filled containers on your property to reduce the risk that these mosquitoes become established here, " Scientific Programs Director Steve Schutz said in the news release.
Reports can be made at by calling 925-685-9301 or visiting www.ContraCostaMosquito.com