MARTINEZ — Health officials in Contra Costa County assured the public Friday that they didn’t believe there was any danger following the release of petroleum coke dust from the Martinez Refining Company early Friday.
In a statement, Contra Costa County Health Services said a hazardous materials team investigated the reported release of the dust about 11 a.m. and determined that it likely wasn’t bad enough to cancel the city’s community events, including Alhambra High’s homecoming parade.
The release of the dust ended soon after the refining company reported it to the county’s community warning system. Health officials said the refining company reported the release as happening at 10:31 a.m. as workers were doing maintenance.
The maintenance stopped after the leak, health officials said. They added that the refining company confirmed there would be no more maintenance Friday.
The leak is the latest trouble for the refinery, which also leaked coke dust in July and came under intense scrutiny in November.
On Thanksgiving, hazardous materials including aluminum, barium, chromium, nickel, vanadium and zinc all were sent into the city in higher levels than are safe, health officials said.
In May, the FBI and the U.S. Department of Justice started helping the Environmental Protection Agency investigate the incident.
Some still wonder what that blanketing of dust did to the soil in the area and what it will mean to the goodwill between the community and the refinery, which has employed many of its residents for years.
The facility must provide a 72-hour report to the county regarding the cause of the release. That report will be posted at cchealth.org/hazmat.
