PBF Energy's 156,400 b/d Martinez, California, refinery has accidentally released petroleum coke dust three times since July, leading to calls from nearby residents for regulatory action.
The city of Martinez, California, will adopt a proclamation in an 18 October city council meeting to urge PBF to improve safety measures at Martinez after the facility released coke dust while undergoing flexicoker unit maintenance earlier this month. Along with a call for PBF Energy to "improve safety culture and training" and to comply with the local regulator's rule to address pollution from fluid catalytic cracking units, the proclamation urges the refiner to regularly report to the city its actions to reach its own internal goal of eliminating injuries and incidents.
The proclamation, partially a result of lobbying by the resident-formed Healthy Martinez Refinery Accountability group, comes after the Martinez refinery has released coke dust multiple times in the past year. In addition to the 6 October coke dust release from its flexicoker, the refinery released coke dust from its delayed coking unit (DCU) on 22 July, which was contained without any off-site impacts, according to a presentation from the refiner released ahead of the planned city council meeting. But dust from the DCU on 11 July blew into the residential area east of the refinery, the refiner said. The Martinez facility also emitted spent catalyst dust from its fluid catalytic cracking unit in November 2022, leading concerned residents to form Healthy Martinez.
Investigations into the coke dust release incidents are still ongoing, the refiner said. PBF Energy will "implement appropriate corrective actions" and "cooperate with all agencies and investigations," as well as communicate with the local community, the presentation said. PBF Energy did not respond to a request for comment.
But officials are unlikely to take steps that would affect production at the refinery, as Martinez is a key supplier of fuel to the region.
Regulators cannot do much more in terms of taking action against the refinery since California is "running out of refineries that produce the fuel" that most residents still rely on for transportation, a coke market participant said. Martinez supplies roughly 20pc of the Bay Area's gasoline and about 40pc of the region's jet fuel, PBF's presentation said.
Other producers, such as Phillips 66 and Marathon Petroleum have opted to convert California refineries to renewable fuels in recent years.
But even those companies that continue to refine crude oil may opt to move away from coking if coke dust continues to draw community ire, another market participant said. Some cities have considered legislation to ban handling and storage of coke.
