Vice Mayor of the City of Martinez Mark Ross

Hello, I’m Mark Ross, Vice mayor for the City of Martinez, but also a longtime director on the Bay Area Air Quality Management District and also a Contra Costa County Hazardous Materials Commissioner.

First, please don’t let my calm demeanor indicate I’m not both troubled and disappointed in the refinery’s incidents and effects on our communities, both Martinez and the surrounding county areas which I also represent.

I have two questions and 2 comments:

1. Regarding the flaring event, does the refinery have backup compressor capacity to step in when the main compressor fails, such as the Chevron Richmond refinery?

2. Unlike the flaring event, where within hours we knew what equipment and processes failed, the spent catalyst incident is still a bit vague. This leads me to concerned that this incident had a root cause in the management process, and that warnings may have been ignored or overridden by superiors during the restart of the unit. Any clarification on this?

3. Comment-  I hope MRC follow in the footsteps of your predecessor , Shell, in compensating the community as was done in 2012, when lube oil was spread throughout the community. Mitigation would enable testing, cleanup, and other measures by those affected. Additionally, how can MRC assure us that they will make sure that only the best, most experienced personnel will be operating these units in the midst of our community.

4. I hope that any fines or settlements will be shared with the affected communities.