Improved Notification, Response Seen in Latest Refinery Coke Incident; Council Reviews July 11 Release; Supervisor Calls for Assessment of MRC's Safety Culture

Saturday incident apparently did not result in dust traveling off site; City rolls out Martinez Alerts; Council frustrated with latest Campbell Theater lease extension; Port Chicago 50 resolution

For the second time in less than two weeks, a release of “coke dust” was reported by the Martinez Refining Co. on Saturday night. But unlike the July 11 incident that briefly caused community alarm and generated some hyperbolic media coverage, Saturday’s incident showed no evidence that any of the coke dust (which is chemically similar to charcoal, according to health experts, and poses relatively low risks to human health) traveled off the refinery grounds.

And unlike the failures and delays in activating the county’s Community Warning System seen in previous incidents, most notably the Thanksgiving “spent catalyst” release, there appeared to be no delay in notifying county hazardous materials staff to this incident. County hazmat and Bay Area Air Quality Management District crews responded after being alerted to the release at 6:04 p.m. and found no evidence of dust in surrounding areas, according to a Contra Costa Health post on Facebook.

In its own Facebook post, MRC said it activated a “Level 1” alert (which is the lowest level, indicating that no off-site health impacts are anticipated) out of “an abundance of caution.” “Based on community monitoring results, the release was contained on-site without any off-site impacts,” the refinery said.

While it’s concerning that MRC had yet another dust incident at its facility (albeit a minor one), it’s definitely good news that, finally, timely notification occurred about such an incident and that MRC acted out of an abundance of caution despite having no evidence that the dust had traveled off site. As many will recall, the reason MRC gave for failing to activate the warning system during the significant Thanksgiving night release that blanketed the community with 20 to 24 tons of toxic dust was that it didn’t know that the spent catalyst had traveled off site.

Although the coke dust incidents have involved a different refinery process, MRC said in the wake of the catalyst release that it would no longer wait for evidence of a release beyond the refinery’s fence line before activating the warning system in cases where an equipment malfunction or process upset occurs that could result in such an outcome.

At Wednesday’s City Council meeting, MRC Manager Daniel Ingram apologized to city leaders and the community for another dust release from the refinery and another failure to quickly notify the public and health authorities to the July 11 incident.

“This is not what we are about, this is not the history of the site, this is not who we want to be moving forward,” Ingram told the council during public comment. “We are going to work very, very hard to be better moving forward. That is my commitment to you.”

MRC Manager Daniel Ingram addresses the City Council on Wednesday about the latest refinery mishap.

One of the more awkward moments from Wednesday’s council discussion about the July 11 incident came when Contra Costa County Deputy Health Director Matt Kaufmann, in discussing the communications from MRC to the county surrounding the July 11 incident, told the council that the health department had still not been able to retrieve a voicemail message that MRC claimed to have left for hazardous materials staff on the morning of the release. In its 72-hour report on the incident, MRC said it had twice tried to called hazmat staff after learning of the release but received no answer; the Community Warning System was activated 29 minutes after the first attempted phone call, according to the report, and 89 minutes after the release occurred.

The idea that a local refinery and the county department tasked with investigating hazardous materials releases may not be on the same page when it comes to which phone numbers to call was not lost on Councilman Satinder Malhi, who zeroed in on the question. When Kaufmann said that he and health department staff had visited the refinery earlier in the day, Malhi asked him, “Did you give them your cellphone number?”

Noting that this incident was thankfully much less significant than the November spent catalyst release, Malhi continued: “Quite frankly, based on everything I’ve seen so far, we dodged a huge bullet here. It does undermine confidence, the fact that if this were a more significant incident, they claim they weren’t able to get ahold of you all. I’m just trying to figure out where the breakdown in communication is. If you haven’t already, please make sure we close that loop. That seems like an easy fix.”

Kaufmann responded: “That was one of the goals today, and I think we accomplished that.”

Ingram, the refinery manager, also said he would get to the bottom of the communications breakdown, noting that the refinery had launched separate investigations into the cause of the dust release itself and the delay in notifying authorities and the public.

“We are recreating the entire timeline, we’re going back to understand every call that was made, the time it was made, the phone numbers that were called, who was contacted, what was said, so that we can understand internally on our part, any notification that was made, any notification that was delayed, why it was delayed, as well as any improvement that we can make to our process, or partner up with the agencies in terms of their process.”

Ingram also explained in technical detail how the release occurred, pinning the blame on “residual water” that had been left in a pit where coke material, which is a byproduct of the refining process, was transferred at a high temperature from a vertical drum. When the material contacted the water, it created a steam cloud that traveled off the refinery property and deposited dust into the surrounding area. MRC says the release lasted less than a minute.

Meanwhile, county Supervisor John Gioia told me Sunday that he’s planning to call for a special assessment of the safety culture at the refinery to try to get to the bottom of why so many incidents have occurred in recent months. He talked to KQED Radio about the proposal on Sunday, and the matter is expected to come up for discussion at Thursday’s meeting of the Board of Supervisors’ ad hoc committee on the Industrial Safety Ordinance/Community Warning System, of which he is chair. “We did this safety culture assessment a number of years ago at a chemical plant in Richmond, and it resulted in a safer facility,” he told KQED.

Thursday’s meeting will be held starting at 9:30 a.m. and will also include a discussion on modifying procedures for notifying the public of Level 1 alerts through the Community Warning System (currently, only more serious Level 2 and Level 3 alerts trigger direct messaging to residents through text, email and/or voice). The agenda for the meeting and how to attend can be found by clicking this link.

The county’s Hazardous Materials Program recently completed a special safety audit of the refinery unit responsible for November’s spent catalyst accident, and the results of that review are expected to be made public sometime soon.

My Take: Based on the initial facts surrounding Saturday’s incident, it seems that MRC has made some strides in the area of notifying the public and health officials in a timely fashion. Now, it’s a matter of doing what needs to be done to prevent such incidents in the first place. MRC has come under withering criticism in the community for the failures of the past eight months, and rightfully so, but when it gets things right (as it apparently did on Saturday evening), that also needs to be acknowledged. The number of incidents that have occurred at MRC in a short period of time raises questions about the safety culture and practices at the refinery that need to be answered, both internally by the refinery itself and by outside regulators. It is a good sign to see the wheels in motion to make that happen. When I raised such questions about the refinery’s safety culture at a town hall in December, Ingram strongly defended the facility’s safety record, but the incidents that have continued in the months since make it clear that words are not good enough. At the same time, anyone who knows anything about refineries knows they are inherently dirty, dangerous facilities, and it is impossible to make them completely safe, or to prevent all mishaps from occurring. Refinery operations in general have grown much safer in recent decades, with the frequency of major accidents plummeting, but the fact that accidents can occur at any time makes it imperative that timely notifications occur to the public and appropriate agencies to ensure that our community has the information it needs, when it needs it, to keep ourselves safe, as well as to prevent unwarranted alarm or panic over incidents that are relatively minor in scope. The presence of so many school sites in close proximity to the refinery only heightens that imperative. Saturday’s apparent improvement in this regard doesn’t lessen the need to get answers in a transparent manner as to why the system did not work as intended on Nov. 24-25 and July 11. This issues around timely notification and the apparent shortcomings in the operation of the Community Warning System have too easily, and too often, been overlooked in the media narrative and public discourse over the events of the past eight months. This coming Wednesday (July 26) marks the 30th anniversary of perhaps the most significant chemical accident in Contra Costa County history, when a sulfuric acid cloud produced by the General Chemical plant in Richmond caused 22,000 people to seek medical attention. The fallout from that event provided the impetus for today’s Community Warning System that is designed to protect us should a similar event occur today, but it is difficult for the community to have that confidence based on the failures from these two MRC incidents. It is time for MRC and the county to work together to rebuild the public trust that has been lost.

Martinez Alerts rollout

At the same council meeting, police Chief Andrew White gave an overview of the new city-based Martinez Alerts notification system designed to supplement the Community Warning System by sending residents email and text message alerts on incidents that rise to a significant level of public interest but which may not trigger alerts through the CWS. This is an opt-in system, and residents can create an account and sign up for the alerts at https://www.smart911.com/smart911/ref/reg.action?pa=cityofmartinez

Those who are already subscribers to the city’s official newsletter were automatically registered for email alerts and should have received one from the July 11 dust release. Martinez Alerts allows residents to choose which types of alerts they would like to be notified about and how they would like to receive the alerts (text, email, voice, or all of the above).

To try to get the word out about the new tool, flyers explaining it will be going out to residents with their water bills, and the city is also launching a social media campaign to explain it.

Noting that the program comes in response to the frustration residents have expressed about the lack of timely notification regarding refinery incidents since the spent catalyst release, Mayor Brianne Zorn encouraged residents to share information about the new tool — which will not only provide notifications about refinery and other hazardous materials releases, but also police and fire incidents, traffic disruptions, weather-related events and more.

“Please make sure all your friends opt into this,” Zorn said.

Campbell Theater lease extended, but frustration grows

The City Council approved a one-year extension of leases that will allow Onstage Theater to continue producing shows at the Campbell Theater on Ward Street through at least Aug. 31, 2024, but not before council members expressed frustration with the building owner’s refusal both to grant a two-year extension and to give the city right of first refusal on any proposed sale of the premises.

Councilwoman Debbie McKillop, in comments that were echoed by her colleagues, noted that limiting the lease extensions for the city and Onstage to one year will make it more difficult for Onstage to build out its theatrical offerings and to line up events.

“It’s challenging for them, and we want them to be successful and to be able to bring in new entertainment and plays,” she said, adding that events at the Campbell also help the downtown business community to thrive by bringing residents and visitors to the area.

Referring to building owner JaBa, LLC, Zorn said that “by not acknowledging a first right of refusal request, it means that they don’t value the theater the way we do, which is kind of disappointing.”

Councilman Mark Ross said it’s time for the city to purchase its own performing arts venue, whether the Campbell building or another site.

“The city of Martinez really needs to own its own building, where it doesn’t have to worry about negotiating a lease, so that we can plan ahead, so that we have this venue at our disposal.”

In a bit of good news, City Manager Michael Chandler told the council that JaBa, LLC, has agreed to begin negotiations in early 2024 for a further lease extension into the second year, something Onstage had requested.

Councilman Satinder Malhi asked that the city work on bringing more “cultural programming” to the venue, in line with its broader diversity and inclusion initiatives.

The lease extensions will continue the city’s rent at a fixed rate of $5,045 a month and Onstage’s sublease rent at $1,500 a month.

Port Chicago 50 resolution

Though a largely symbolic gesture, the council passed a resolution expressing support for local, state and federal efforts to exonerate the “Port Chicago 50” in connection with the World War II munitions disaster at the Port Chicago naval base in central Contra Costa County, an issue that has been spearheaded over the years by former Congressman George Miller and current U.S. Rep. Mark DeSaulnier. The explosion was the worst home-front disaster of the war, killing 320 American naval personnel, 200 of whom were Black enlisted men. When 50 Black sailors refused after the disaster to return to work citing unsafe conditions and inadequate training at the facility, they were court-marshaled for mutiny and sentenced to 17 years in prison with hard labor. Though most of the 50 were given a general discharge from the Navy under honorable conditions after the war ended, their convictions were never rescinded.

Though the resolution was a routine item on the council’s consent calendar that is not generally discussed at meetings, City Manager Michael Chandler was asked by Mayor Brian Zorn to summarize the issue and the history of the event following a request by a member of the public.

“After all these years, their good names have not been cleared,” Chandler said of the Port Chicago 50 in summarizing the resolution to the council. “The tragedy of this was really two-fold. It wasn’t just the explosion and massive loss of life and devastation of that, but it’s the injustice that occurred thereafter for these men who were lucky enough to survive that and refused to work and were punished for it.”

The resolution adopted by the council reads in part:

Section 1. The City Council of the City of Martinez does hereby support these and all efforts to exonerate the Port Chicago 50 and recognize their service to our country.

Section 2. The City Council of the City of Martinez recognizes the efforts that this case presents in our nation’s struggle for social justice, racial equity, and workers’ rights.

Section 3. The City Council of the City of Martinez affirms support for all future efforts which urge the President and Congress of the United States to take all necessary actions to restore honor to and rectify the mistreatment by the United States Military of any sailors who were unjustly blamed for and convicted of mutiny after the Port Chicago disaster on July 17, 1944.