Major Bay Area Refinery to Pay $10 Million for Long Stretch of Violations

The Martinez Refining Company will pay a $10 million fine for 163 violations over four years, the Contra Costa County district attorney and the Bay Area Air District announced Thursday morning.

The violations at MRC stretched from early 2020 to 2024, according to a press release, and included the Thanksgiving Day 2022 release of 50,000 pounds of spent catalyst, a toxic ash-like substance that settled over residents’ cars, gardens and houses.

Other violations included “illegal flaring, fires, leaking tanks, public nuisance-level odors in downtown Martinez,” and releases of a byproduct of petroleum production called “coke dust,” a black powdery substance that spread to properties near the refinery in 2023.

The Contra Costa County district attorney’s office and the Bay Area Air District jointly prosecuted the sprawling case against MRC. The refinery is one of the largest remaining producers of gasoline and jet fuel in the Bay Area, sitting on unincorporated lands abutting the city of Martinez, with roughly 37,000 residents.

“The residents of Martinez deserve clean air,” District Attorney Diana Becton said Thursday. “They deserve transparency and accountability. Today’s judgment sends a clear message. No company is above the law, and when conduct harms our communities and our environment, we will act. We will act firmly, lawfully, and in partnership to hold violators accountable.”

“Many of the violations were not minor technical oversights,” Air District chief attorney Alexander Crockett said. “They involved repeated failures that impacted public health, environmental safety, and community trust.”

The ash falling from the sky in 2022 prompted community members to form an advocacy group called Healthy Martinez.

“My son wiped his hand across that white ash,” said Heidi Taylor, a resident and attorney who speaks for the group. “To this day, we don’t know the health consequences of that. [I was] walking outside in my backyard going, can I eat the oranges or not?”

Taylor said she appreciates the effort that air regulators and the district attorney put into getting the penalty against MRC but cautioned that the community needs to remain vigilant.

“Unless we continue to press this refinery to do the right thing, they won’t do the right thing. They prove that to us time and time again,” she said.

In a press release Thursday, the company said it was committed to safe, reliable, and environmentally responsible operations.

“MRC recognizes that we must earn the right to operate in Martinez and that we have a responsibility to be involved in and to give back to the Martinez community,” the company said by email.

The $10 million will be allocated to stakeholders:

• $6.35 million of the penalty will be allocated to the Air District to fund community mitigation projects in Martinez and other affected communities.
• $3.5 million of the penalty will support enforcement efforts at the district attorney’s office’s Environmental Unit.
• Contra Costa County Health Services will receive $100,000, and California’s Department of Fish and Wildlife will get $50,000.

MRC will spend an additional $600,000 on improvements to bring the refinery into compliance with environmental regulations and on projects to mitigate the refinery’s effects on Martinez and surrounding communities, such as installing air filtration in public schools.

The company also agreed to keep emissions control equipment going during startups and shutdowns and to install enhanced air pollution monitoring equipment.

“Enforcement is not symbolic. It is one of the most powerful tools we have to drive compliance and prevent future harm,” Crockett continued. “When facilities violate air pollution laws, there are consequences. Communities living near heavy industry already face disproportionate environmental impacts. The Martinez area bore the burden of these violations.”

Contra Costa County Judge Benjamin Reyes II signed the final judgment on Wednesday, just days after the Martinez refinery resumed full production following a massive fire on Feb. 1, 2025, that injured six workers and led to a partial shelter-in-place order. That fire was not included in the judgment; air regulators plan to address it in a separate civil action.