PBF Energy has informed the City of the following:

“Starting next week, we will invest more than $70 million in the Martinez Refinery for a major maintenance project called a turnaround. The work will last several weeks, with refinery personnel involved, as well as our contract business partners bringing in more than 600 Building Trades craftworkers through local unions.

The turnaround will begin by shutting down equipment in a safe and controlled manner, following standard operating procedures. The shutdown process will take several days, during which there will be potential for flaring. Importantly, we have developed a flare minimization plan to minimize or prevent flaring during the shutdown process.

Following the shutdown, our employees and Building Trades members working for our contract partners will safely conduct maintenance work for several weeks. Following completion, we will restart the equipment, which will increase the potential for flaring until the restart is complete. We will follow a similar flare minimization plan during the restart that is also designed to minimize or prevent flaring during the start-up process.

Flares are an essential part of a refinery’s integrated, engineered safety systems designed to safely manage excess combustible gases by burning them off efficiently and effectively. You can learn more about flaring on our website:   https://martinezrefiningcompany.com/about-flaring/.

Due to the temporary increase in our contract workforce, we expect more vehicles in the mornings and evenings on the following roads near the refinery during the turnaround:

Marina Vista between I-680 and Shell Avenue

Pacheco Blvd between I-680 and Howe Road

We have carefully planned this work to minimize impact to our neighbors, including mobilizing resources to address potential traffic impacts. There may also be periodic noise and additional lighting at night associated with the turnaround. All appropriate agencies have been notified of our plans.