Contra Costa Health is asking for the public to offer comments on the findings from a third-party analysis of the allegedly hazardous materials released from the Martinez Refining Company last November.
The refinery released spent catalyst on Nov. 24 and 25, 2022.
There will be a public hearing on the report – which hasn’t yet been officially accepted by the Contra Costa County Board of Supervisors – from 6 p.m. to 8 p.m. Sept. 25 at the county administration building.
CCH announced in June an independent toxicologist found the release didn’t increase public health risks from exposure to nearby soil.
But the analysis didn’t take into account any health effects to the public during the release, which lasted from Thanksgiving night until the next day and released an estimated 20 to 24 tons of material into the community.
The refinery didn’t alert the county or the community warning system as required by law, and residents found cars and homes covered in dust, samples of which showed elevated levels of aluminum, barium, chromium, nickel, vanadium, and zinc, all of which can cause respiratory problems. CCH found out about the release via social media reports a day-and-a-half after it started.
The Contra Costa County District Attorney’s Office is still investigating MRC for failing to notify authorities about the release.
County supervisors put together an oversight committee, including residents from affected areas, to investigate whether the release increased risk of health problems in the community due to environmental contamination. The panel is also looking at what caused the release.
Health officials stress the report is not an investigation into the spent catalyst release. The report includes results of soil sampling and evaluation of the levels of metals found in the samples compared to published sources of soil health standards and regional background levels for naturally occurring metals found in the catalyst dust.
At the Sept. 25 meeting, Contra Costa County’s Hazardous Material Programs will discuss the findings from the evaluation and receive public comment about the report, CCH said in a statement.
A copy of the report can be found at https://cchealth.org/hazmat/pdf/MRC-Refinery-incident2022-1124-Risk-Assessment-Report.pd.
The public comment period started Monday and remains open until Oct. 12.
Comments on the report can be sent to Hazmat.Arpteam@cchealth.org.
Comments can be mailed to Michael Dossey at Contra Costa Health Hazardous Materials Programs, 4585 Pacheco Blvd., Suite 100, Martinez, CA. 94553.
I’m sure that the personal injury plaintiff attorney shysters have been all over this like flies in a cow pasture…
It was not hazardous and state agencies already determined that. It was the same dust you find in a bag of Kingsford Briquets. The fear mongering is laughable.
This is not the Coke Dust incident from a few months ago, but the 24 tons of spent catalyst incident from last November. Reading the whole article would have helped.
The fear mongering is still laughable. I work in there every day. You have no idea what that stuff is and you never will.
Since you made the comparison, where can we get a 20 to 24 ton bag of Kingsford Briquet dust?
AMERICAN CITIZEN,
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How about you tell us what was in it.
Speaking of. My problems stem from the fire season, as arson is now called. I have lived in this valley since the 60’s and have only suffered the ill effects of raging fire storms this past few years. Check the satellite footage. You know who it is.
More fines passed directly on to the consumers.
The government is out to shut down the refineries.It’s all part of the electric car push.It’s all ready been proven our infrastructure can’t handle it.The government wants to break us for total control.
And where does electricity come from? It comes from generators that are fired by hydrocarbons. The magic electricity is not generated from the sky or from the unicorns.
OLD TIMER,
.
We should never have moved so quickly to electric cars, if we were going to move away from gas, we should’ve continued down the natural gas path, hybrids, and hydrogen.
Heard it was not hazardous by the state as well… lawyers will get fat on this anyway… but didn’t everybody move and live here knowing what’s in the area and its risk? Kinda the same thing with Lawrence Livermore Lab… an accident, attack, etc. would release nuclear clouds probably… same previously with CCNWS prior to beng decommissioned.
Public Comment, hmm, what should I say? The report seems to show I was breathing bad air, give me some money. Also, I wish the font and color combinations on the report were different. What will they do with these comments???
Where is Mark DeSalinger. Why hasn’t he attached himself to this story?
Mark is busy dealing with organizations who don’t need his help
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Any and all public comments will be received and promptly ignored.
.
Signed,
-CCHS