Martinez Refining Company
When the Martinez Refining Company (MRC) released 24 tons of heavy metal-laden spent catalyst on the town of Martinez last Thanksgiving night, the community started demanding answers about safety protocol and emissions control at the refinery. This was also the concern of the Bay Area Air Quality Management District (BAAQMD) when, in July 2021, it adopted Regulation 6-5, the most stringent air quality control measure in the country, to reduce the health-damaging particulate matter released by the fluid catalytic cracker units in Bay Area refineries.
The rule would impact Chevron and MRC, the heaviest emitters of particulate matter, and implementation would reduce by 70% the 300 tons of PM2.5 released annually by the MRC/PBF refinery. That’s nearly one ton a day of microscopic-sized PM2.5 falling on the town of Martinez and penetrating into the lungs of residents, with deleterious respiratory and cardiovascular impacts.
Instead of agreeing to comply with the rule by installing a wet gas scrubber, the Best Available Retrofit Control Technology (BARCT) for reducing PM2.5 emissions, Chevron and MRC both filed lawsuits instead. Chevron’s and MRC’s lawsuits against BAAQMD will both be heard on October 26th.
TAKE ACTION NOW! Please send an email to MRC.CommunityRelations@pbfenergy.com, with cc’s: to Brandon Matson, Western Region Director of Government Relations and Daniel Ingram, Operations manager, with the following message:
MRC has been apologizing to Martinez residents and city officials for repeated releases of toxic dust—first spent catalyst, then two separate releases of petroleum coke—and has promised to do better. But if MRC genuinely cares about the health and safety of its neighbors, it will immediately withdraw its lawsuit against BAAQMD and install a wet gas scrubber. Invest in the community, not lawyers.
It’s always best to put messages in your own words, so feel free to improvise.
Please bcc action@sunflower-alliance.org on your email so we can track how many messages have been sent. Thank you for taking action today!