County Health Officials Launch 'Unannounced Inspection" of Martinez Refinery
Move comes less than a week after City Council meeting is dominated by anger, frustration over repeated incidents at facility owned by PBF Energy; county supervisors to visit Thursday
Less than a week after community frustration about repeated incidents at PBF Energy’s Martinez refinery boiled over at a packed City Council meeting, Contra Costa Health (CCH) said Tuesday it had launched “an unannounced inspection” at the facility “to request records and observe its operation with a focus on safety programs, reliability of equipment and to follow up regarding several recent accidents.”
What, if anything, the abrupt inspection turned up about the safety of the refinery’s operations was not disclosed in the media release, which noted that Contra Costa County’s Industrial Safety Ordinance (ISO) “requires PBF to permit inspectors onsite and provide full access both to the site as well as company records.”
Asked for a response to Tuesday’s inspection, refinery spokesman Brandon Matson said: “We have been cooperating with all agencies and investigations related to our refinery and will continue to do so.”
The county’s announcement also noted that thus far in 2023, “there have been 21 documented releases or spills of hazardous materials at PBF. In addition to these releases and spills, PBF reported flaring — an emergency safety measure to prevent more serious incidents — through the county’s Community Warning System at a rate of nearly one per week throughout the year.”
The media release, however, failed to note that of those 21 incidents, only one registered as Level 2 on the county’s Community Warning System scale, which indicates possible off-site health impacts for sensitive populations. That was a major flaring incident on Dec. 15 that caused strong odors to spread throughout the community and generated some complaints of respiratory issues such as irritated eyes and throats. The rest of the incidents were Level 1 alerts, which indicate no anticipated offsite health impacts. Only Level 3 alerts, which indicate the possibility of broad off-site health impacts, trigger shelter-in-place instructions or other protective actions for the entire community.
County supervisors Federal Glover and John Gioia plan to visit the refinery on Thursday, according to Contra Costa Health, to meet with PBF’s corporate leadership and “discuss their concerns about how the refinery operates.”
Glover, who represents Martinez on the county Board of Supervisors, was quoted in Tuesday’s media release as saying: “We intend to hold PBF accountable for making the necessary investments to become a better neighbor.”
Glover and the rest of the supervisors, however, were conspicuous by their absence at last Wednesday’s raucous City Council meeting, which was attended by the county’s health officer and other CCH officials and drew a standing-room crowd, many of whom expressed outrage over refinery accidents since a major toxic dust release in November 2022 that remains under investigation by multiple agencies.
Martinez City Council members, who have no regulatory oversight of the refinery, spent the first two-plus hours of Wednesday’s meeting listening to comments from refinery and county health officials and the public, while also weighing in with their own frustration about the ongoing situation (Mayor Brianne Zorn said she preferred to no longer refer to the refinery by the name Martinez Refining Co. because of the damage it has done to the city). As a result, the City Council had to delay, curtail or postpone several crucial agenda items on topics that it directly controls, including the long-awaited adoption of a final Housing Element and proposed changes to the city’s cannabis ordinance, in a meeting that stretched until midnight.
While the vast majority of anger at Wednesday’s meeting was directed at refinery officials, county health officials were also pushed to deliver more concrete action following 13 months of investigations that often have seemed to move at a glacial pace. An independent investigation into the root cause of the Thanksgiving 2022 spent catalyst still hasn’t wrapped up. Soil test results on the dust weren’t completed or announced publicly until several months after health officials advised the public against eating produce that might have come into contact with the dust, an advisory that itself wasn’t issued until several months after the release occurred (the test results revealed no long-term health risks to affected soil). And a safety culture assessment ordered over the summer into the refinery’s operations, to be conducted by the same independent contractor handling the root cause analysis, is just getting started, with a site visit to the refinery not scheduled to take place until the end of January at the earliest.
CCH also reneged on a promise it made to the community immediately following the spent catalyst release to conduct a “transparent, community-involved” investigation into why the county’s Community Warning System was not activated on the night of the release, despite the fact that it should have qualified as a CWS Level 2 incident. Health officials have prohibited Scott Berger, who is conducting the root cause investigation, from exploring that question, arguing that the matter was referred to the District Attorney’s Office for possible charges and that a parallel investigation may compromise the D.A.’s work.
The D.A.’s Office, however, has never stated that such an independent investigation would cause any such problems for its work. In an announcement in November (10 months after starting its own investigation), the D.A.’s Office announced a vague “joint civil enforcement action” with several regulatory agencies, including the Bay Area Air Quality Management District (BAAQMD) and Contra Costa Health, into unspecified “enforcement claims” stemming from the spent catalyst release. But the announcement made no mention of the Community Warning System failure, raising the question as to why Contra Costa Health could exclude that issue from the independent root cause investigation but none of the other “enforcement claims” that the D.A. is apparently involved in investigating.
Gioia has said that once the D.A. completes its investigation and files a report, he and Glover will look into any pertinent issues related to the operation of the Community Warning System through the ISO/CWS Ad Hoc Subcommittee that they lead. He and and Contra Costa Health officials have also repeatedly referred to the D.A.’s investigation as “criminal” in nature, suggesting that is why an independent investigation would be improper into the CWS failure.
But the D.A. has never used the word “criminal” in any of its announcements related to its investigation of the issues related to the spent catalyst release and specifically referred to the joint investigation with BAAQMD, CCH and the California Department of Fish & Wildlife as “civil” in nature. It also mentioned nothing in its October statement about issuing a public report on the results of its investigation.
Tuesday’s release by CCH says the regulatory inspection will include “policies and procedures related to emergency response and community notification during accidental releases” (the very topics that CCH has prevented Berger’s firm from exploring in his independent investigation into the spent catalyst accident).
Given the lead role that the D.A. is apparently taking in this joint enforcement action, there was oddly no mention in CCH’s announcement about D.A. inspectors playing any role in Tuesday’s unannounced site inspection or plans for D.A. officials to take part in Thursday’s planned meeting with PBF leaders on the refinery’s operations.
Tuesday’s CCH media release stated the following:
This regulatory inspection will also include staff from the Bay Area Air Quality Management District. CCH staff will review records pertaining to deferred maintenance of equipment at the site, programs and training relating to workplace safety, and policies and procedures related to emergency response and community notification during accidental releases. The inspection will also conduct a variety of field verification activities.
CCH will post more information about the investigation as it becomes available at cchealth.org.
Media release from CCH on Thursday, Dec. 28:
Contra Costa Supervisors Meet with Martinez Refinery Management
About Safety Concerns
Contra Costa County Board of Supervisors Chair John Gioia and Vice-Chair Federal Glover met with management representatives from PBF Energy’s Martinez Refining Company (PBF) this afternoon to discuss concerns about the frequency of chemical releases and other incidents at the facility that impact community health and safety.
The supervisors also delivered an open letter to the facility’s manager outlining Contra Costa Health’s (CCH) documentation of incidents and ordering PBF to provide its regulators full access to the facility, documentation relating to deferred maintenance of equipment, access to employees and data relating to maintenance and safety practices.
The text of the letter follows.
December 28, 2023
Mr. Daniel Ingram, Refinery Manager
Martinez Refining Company, LLC
1801 Marina Vista Avenue
Martinez, CA 94553
Dear Mr. Ingram,
Contra Costa Health (CCH) writes to you today regarding the unacceptable number of hazardous materials releases and other incidents that have occurred at the Martinez Refining Company’s refinery during the past year, incidents that have compromised health and safety at your facility, and in our community.
In the past year, CCH has documented 21 releases or spills of hazardous materials at the Martinez refinery (see attached list). According to the County’s Community Warning System records, PBF also reported using flares – devices that should only be used as an emergency safety measure to prevent more serious incidents – at a rate of nearly once per week. CCH has documented 46 flaring incidents at the refinery since November 2022.
As the owner of the Martinez refinery and parent company of Martinez Refining Company LLC, PBF Energy (“PBF”) is responsible for ensuring the reliability of its systems and establishing and maintaining a culture of safety at the refinery. The number of incidents at the refinery over the past year is unacceptable for a facility operating in Contra Costa County and points to an apparent fundamental lack of investment on the part of PBF in ensuring the reliability of its systems and maintaining a facility that is safe for its workers and the neighboring community.
As you are aware, CCH has been working closely with the Bay Area Air Quality Management District (BAAQMD) surrounding the refinery’s numerous releases, spills and flaring incidents. On December 26, 2023, Dr. Philip Fine, Executive Director of the BAAQMD issued the following statement:
“The recent air quality violations at MRC are troubling and unacceptable. The Air District shares the community’s concern and outrage about these events. We are actively investigating and pursuing all legal avenues to ensure MRC is compliant with our regulations and that future violations and community disruptions are minimized. The Air District recently announced a joint civil enforcement action against MRC in conjunction with the Contra Costa County District Attorney’s Office to combine our prosecutorial resources to vigorously pursue accountability and justice for the Martinez community. The Air District stands in solidarity with our partners and the residents of Martinez to hold MRC accountable.”
As the owner of the Martinez refinery and parent company of Martinez Refining Company LLC, PBF Energy (“PBF”) is responsible for ensuring the reliability of systems and establishing and maintaining a culture of safety at the refinery. The number of incidents at the refinery over the past year is unacceptable for a facility operating in Contra Costa County.
As the County department responsible for enforcing state hazardous materials laws and regulations, and the County’s Industrial Safety Ordinance (Chapter 450-8 of the County Ordinance Code), CCH will not tolerate unsafe business practices at the refinery and hereby places PBF on notice of the following:
1. Beginning immediately, PBF shall allow CCH employees and agents onsite at all times and permit them access to any part of the facility upon request.
2. PBF shall provide to CCH all documentation relating to deferred maintenance of equipment at PBF no later than 10:00 AM on January 2, 2024. CCH will review these materials to determine the facility’s work plan for addressing deferred maintenance moving forward.
3. PBF shall provide to CCH a list of every employee and resident contractor working at PBF, including job titles and description of responsibilities, no later than 10:00 AM on January 2, 2024.
4. To assist in proper development of the facility’s culture of workplace safety, PBF shall make available for interviews any refinery employee requested by CCH. PBF management may not be present for interviews conducted by CCH. CCH welcomes labor representation and participation.
5. PBF shall provide to CCH a record of each Stop Work Authority that was utilized at the facility (California Code of Regulations, Title 19, Division 2, Chapter 4.5, Section 2762.16(f)) from 2021 to present, and a record of each near-miss incident (California Code of Regulations, Title 19, Division 2, Chapter 4.5, Section 2762.9(a)) documented in the past 12 months, no later than 10:00 AM on January 2, 2024. PBF will include a description of its criteria for near-miss events.
6. Upon each occurrence of a process upset or any other incident requiring PBF to provide notification under the County’s Hazardous Materials Notification Policy, PBF management shall make immediate contact with a CCH representative of the occurrence, in addition to providing all required notice under the policy. CCH will provide instructions about this notification in a subsequent communication.
7. CCH reserves the right to come onsite during any incident that has the potential to impact public health or the environment in accordance with all applicable laws. CCH reserves the right to modify the Community Warning System level of any incident impacting public health without consulting PBF. All costs associated with incident response will be borne by PBF.
8. At least two weeks before PBF’s planned turnaround in early 2024, PBF shall provide to CCH a comprehensive plan outlining when planned flaring will occur during the turnaround and what steps the facility will take to minimize the amount of flaring.
9. PBF shall allow an additional observer or observers from CCH onsite at all times during the turnaround and shall provide the observer or observers with access to any part of the facility upon request.
CCH will provide more information about future steps to ensure workplace and community safety at the Martinez refinery after reviewing the documents referenced above.
We look forward to collaborating with PBF on our mutual goal of making this facility the good neighbor it aspires to become.
Sincerely,
Anna Roth, RN, MS, MPH
Chief Executive Officer, Contra Costa Health
Health Director, Contra Costa County