City of Martinez Alert: The flaring incident at Martinez Refining Company has been elevated to a Level 2 incident.
Contra Costa County Public Health has issued a public health advisory for individuals with respiratory sensitivities.
Eye, skin, nose, or throat irritation may be possible for some people in the affected area.
If people experience any irritation, advise them to go inside and rinse any irritated area of their body with water.
So that’s why the low flying helicopter N42SL has been stalking for the last 40 minutes. Sigh!!!
What’s it going to take for this refinery to be shut down? If something catastrophic happens, the local politicians are going to be just as guilty as the out of control refinery management.
Agreed
When the supply of essential goods such as motor fuels decreases and demand remains steady or rises, the price of such goods increases.
If the refinery shutters, the local price of refined petroleum products, including gasoline and diesel, will rise.
Northern California merchants, manufacturers motorists and consumers’ wellbeing decreases as refined petroleum product prices increase.
That refinery was built over a century ago. 100% of the neighborhood residents thus CHOSE to live next to a refinery, which has always entitled the risk of exposure to pollution and other dangers from industrial accidents.
Why should millions endure hardship because a few thousand neighbors CHOSE to live downwind from smokestacks aging?
@ LaMorinda Larry: Firstly, your premise is wrong: 100% of the residents did not choose to live next to a refinery. Many residents are children. A society has a responsibility not to create a permanent underclass by allowing generations to growth up in toxic environments. Unless you’re into elitism and such.
Secondly, look at the map of the affected area. The areas impacted are not just next to the refinery. It extends throughout Martinez and likely is impacting neighboring areas. During one of these incidents I was driving home and could smell fumes just past Crockett, though the incident had not been reported yet.
Your argument about the refinery needing to be open for “greater good” is short sighted. If refineries and similar industries are not held accountable for excessive pollution, they will have no incentive to control their pollution. More industries will pollute because it is cheaper and the goal of a corporation is to make money. Eventually industrial pollution will find its way to your neck of the woods.
Lastly, we know the refinery can be run safely because for many years it was.
The question I posted earlier was not rhetorical – especially to those living in affluent areas like Moraga or Orinda. What would have to happen for you to shut down the refinery? Where would you draw the line? Would people have to get sick or die? How many?
You’re talking out your rear end. You act like they’re pumping gasoline right into local filling stations which is not how this works. Refineries do not sell direct to individual retail stations; they sell on the wholesale market to all of the buyers who use petrochemicals to produce whatever they produce. Sure, they sell to regional buyers first because of the profit margin being better, but they sell to the highest profit bidder. Even if you try to say that one less Bay Area refinery would hurt market supply, you’d be full of it again. When the entire state of CA decreased production by 25% there was no significant change in pump prices for consumers due to the size of the market and range of sources. It’s idiotic to suggest that because families knew there was a refinery in the area it’s ok for a refiner to allow equipment malfunctions to spew heavy metals into the community, or to fail to alert people when something was going wrong. This article doesn’t mention the sulfur dioxide leak they failed to disclose for over 10 hours while the whole city smelled like rotting eggs. We know there’s a refinery there, but we expect them to operate well and communicate effectively. By your logic, anyone who has ever affected by earthquake, flood, hurricane, car accident or pretty much any other event that involved a known environment risk has no right to want better protections.
Shut this place down now. I know people that work there and indicated new ownership is responsible for these issues.
here it is @ 4:46PM and it is still sporadically flaring….
Wondering:
If the place was ‘Shut Down’; how long of a process is it to do so?\
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I believe refinery workers have posted on Claycord; your thoughts, please.
Oil refineries are necessary. So, too, is the safe operation of them. With regard to the health advisory, why aren’t people talking about the constant spraying going on above us? Surely you have seen it. We are being played, folks.
Yesterday was particularly bad with crisscrossed artificial cirrus clouds covering the sky. Totally unnatural and airliners don’t leave those. Guvmint will tell them we’re all conspiracy theorists in spite of the facts that the contracts and patents for it are easily found (plus YT videos of arguments for and against it from decades ago). And a search can reveal international businesses advertising their services for this. I’m thinking yesterday might have gotten up into the low 70s without those clouds (typical December California weather).