MARTINEZ, Calif.—Scores of people tired of living near accident-prone refineries packed an elementary school auditorium to hear what their government officials were doing to protect them.
Two local refineries, Marathon Martinez Renewables and Martinez Refining Co., have racked up hundreds of air quality violations over the past five years. MRC agreed in February to pay $10 million in fines for 163 violations that included an accident that blanketed residents’ homes with 24 tons of metal-laden dust four years ago on Thanksgiving Day.
The settlement did not cover a similar episode in 2025, when a fireball sent thick clouds of smoke across town, leaving residents wondering, again, if it was safe to go outside or eat from their gardens.
Marathon’s Martinez Renewables, which recently locked out more than 100 workers in a labor dispute, has received more than 100 violations from the air district for flaring and other infractions since 2021.
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