Contra Costa Health issued a health advisory Friday due to strong chemical odors linked to a flaring at the Martinez refinery.
The flaring was reported at around 9 a.m.
“Flaring is occurring at the Martinez Refinery that may be visible and audible offsite due to an operational incident. Additionally, increased steam from the refinery may be visible, and we are aware of odor complaints and are conducting community monitoring to investigate the source,” the Martinez Refining Company said in a Facebook post.
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The health department reassured the public that hazmat teams and air quality teams are monitoring the air, and they said, as of Friday afternoon, the chemicals in the air were not a serious threat to public health.
People who live in the neighborhood next to the refinery said they’ve unfortunately gotten used to seeing and hearing the flaring. But the one thing that caught them off guard, especially Friday, was the smell.
Larissa Travalini was about to take her son to the doctor when she went into her garage to grab her shoes.
“I thought there was a gas leak, I immediately started to panic,” the Martinez resident said.
Not knowing what was happening down the street, Travalini ran back inside and called 911.
“They said, ‘oh, it’s the refinery,’ and I said, ‘OK’ but I did not believe them because it was so strong that I covered my nose,” she said.
But it made sense once she heard a familiar rumbling blocks away.
The flaring was upgraded to what’s known as a level two event just before 11 a.m. because of the strong chemical smell.
That means those with prior respiratory issues were advised to stay indoors.
Travalini grew up there, but can’t remember a foul odor like this one.
“It’s nasty,” she said. “There’s a smell and it smells like gas or sewage.”
Nicole Melton was working from home and said she couldn’t stand it anymore.
“It was really bad in my living room,” she said.
She packed up her dogs and headed to a friend’s house out of the area for the rest of the day.
“I’m just going to wait it out at her house. Hopefully the smell goes away,” said Melton.
This year, 227 level one flaring events have occurred. While they're not considered a public health threat, people living nearby say they feel the effects.
"There's clearly something wrong when you have this number of events over a period of months," Contra Costa County Supervisor John Gioia said.
Gioia said the county is investigating how a power outage Friday shut down some of the refinery's steam production, which is being blamed for the flaring.
Hazmat teams and county health officials are also opening what they call a safety culture assessment to get to the bottom of what's going wrong at the refinery.
"There are multiple investigations going on from the air district and from the county health department," Gioia said.
Public health officials may ultimately refer the case to the district attorney's office, which has the power to impose fines if it determines there are serious safety or compliance violations found.
Two residents filed a proposed class action lawsuit against the business and its parent company, demanding changes be made.
It also calls for the company to pay for residents’ future medical costs related to flaring.
“It’s just been one thing after another and it feels kind of unsafe. Like, you never know what’s going to happen next, you know what I mean?” said Travalini.
