Flaring at Martinez Refining Company prompts 2 community alerts in 24 hours
Martinez Refining Company reported its second community awareness message relating to flaring within 24 hours to Contra Costa Health at 11:55 a.m. Monday.
On Sunday, the refinery reported flaring at its Martinez refinery at 12:24 p.m.
In both cases, the refinery said the health agency responded by sending out a message saying "A Level 1 Community Awareness Message has been reported to CCHealth by Martinez Refining Company, located in Martinez. This message is for informational purposes only. You may hear, smell, or see signs related to this event; however no action is required. For more information, please visit CCHealth's Hazmat Dashboard at https://cchealth.org/hazdash."
According to the health agency, a level 1 warning means there's odor or audible impact, flaring lasting longer than 20 minutes, or other non-flaring visual impact,
MRC said on social media flares are an essential part of a refinery's integrated, engineered safety systems, which are designed to safely manage excess gases and pressure through efficient, effective combustion.
MRC said there's more information about flares at https://martinezrefiningcompany.com/about-flaring.
People can also see real-time fence line air measurements at MRC's air monitoring page at http://www.fenceline.org/martinez/,
Anyone with questions can call the refinery at (925) 313-3777 or (925) 313-3601 after hours.
