Planning Commission approves Marathon refinery biodiesel conversion despite complaints of odor and environmental concerns
The Contra Costa County Planning Commission unanimously approved a plan to convert the Marathon Refinery in Martinez to process biofuels.
In a special meeting last night the Planning Commission saw a brief presentation on the project’s Environmental Impact Review (EIR) and heard public comment on the final version of the document as required by the California Environmental Quality Act (CEQA).
“When I bought my home over here in Clyde I was told that occasionally I would smell the refinery. In January 2018 that occasion became a daily thing that lasted for months. [What] if somebody next to your home put off an odor that was causing you to have a high tension headache. They have been idle since 2020. It’s still smelling. I have called the Bay Area Air Quality at least six times in January, I have smelled it at least 16 times. I can’t call every time I have a family to raise and a business to run,” said Jason Steinber.
Several other residents who live in the nearby town of Clyde expressed frustration with repeated incidents of odor from the refinery. “They have about killed us in Clyde a number of times when their pond went bad and sulfur dioxide smell went through town,” said Mary Anne Magee.
“I have lived here 75 years. I am 80 years old. I’m sick and tired of this pollution,” said Janet PyGeorge. “They have got to find a better way!”
The refinery was idled in July of 2020 due to the drop in fuel demand during the pandemic but the company has continued to receive odor complaints, according to Amber Larsen, Manager of Environment, Safety and Security for Marathon Martinez.
Commissioner Donna Allen asked the project representatives about issues with the oxidation pond mentioned several times in public comments. Larsen said that the comments referred to an incident in 2018 when the oxidation pond, part of the plant’s wastewater treatment system, had become anaerobic and created offensive odors. Larsen stated that the company has addressed the issue by installing redundant analyzers to monitor the oxygen levels in the pond.
Larson also described the refinery’s “air patrol” or odor patrol which makes trips around the refinery up to twice a day as well as when the refinery receives an odor complaint. She said that when people smell an odor they often think of the refinery but sometimes the offending odors originate from other sources in the area.
During the project presentation Joe Lawler of the Contra Costa County planning department pointed out that the conversion of the refinery to biofuels would result in a reduction of emissions not only from the production process at the refinery but also reduced tailpipe emissions when the fuel is burned in trucks or delivery vans.
The Marathon refinery biofuel conversion is one of two biofuel conversion projects that are proposed in Contra Costa County. The Phillips 66 Rodeo Refinery is also proposing a switch to processing renewable diesel. The interest in biofuel conversion is in large part related to California’s Low Carbon Fuel Standard (LCFS).
The LCFS program sets a carbon intensity standard for combustion fuels. Producers of fuels that emit more carbon dioxide than the standard are then required to purchase credits from companies that are producing fuels with a carbon intensity that is lower than the standard. This system creates a subsidy to increase the profits for producers of lower carbon fuels.
Richard Corey, Executive Officer of the California Air Resources Board (CARB) who has been involved in the creation of the LCFS program spoke to planning commissioners as part of the refinery biofuels conversion project presentation.
“Transportation is responsible for 50% of greenhouse gas (GHG) emissions, 80% of Nitrogen Oxide emissions, and 95% of diesel particulate matter (PM) emissions. I bring that up because there is no path to get to our GHG reduction targets established in statute as well as executive order, our health based equality standards established federally in the National Ambient Air Quality Standard or our community protections, protecting communities from diesel PM (particulate matter) particularly in those communities near ports, rail yards and warehouses that are predominantly lower income, disadvantaged communities.”
Corey stressed that the clear plan is to transition out of combustion and petroleum fuel but the electrification infrastructure to support that transition is still a long way off.
“We know that we are going to be on liquid fuels for some time in a number of applications. How do we clean up, as best as we possibly can, that continued liquid fuel use in trucks that operate on the road today that will not be replaced by electric trucks for some time. LCFS is part of that solution.”
The Marathon Refinery Renewable Fuels project will use a combination of animal fats, corn and soy oils that will be refined into a product called renewable diesel. This can be used as a “drop-in” replacement fuel for diesel engines without modification. The refinery could potentially produce low carbon aviation fuels but this is not included in the current proposal.
Jed Holtzman questioned the sustainability of processing animal fats into fuels in a public comment on the project. Holtzman also brought up deforestation concerns related to soy and vegetable oil production. He claimed that the proposed Phillips 66 plant combined with the Marathon refinery would use as much as 20% of US soy oil.
Feedstocks have been a significant concern for those who look at the project from a food systems perspective. Used vegetable oils like yellow grease collected from restaurants and food production facilities may contribute a significant portion of the feedstock for the production of renewable diesel at the Marathon Refinery.
However, Gary Hughes of the international organization Bio-fuel Watch is concerned about the large demand for vegetable oil created by the proposed refineries. He points out that even the use of recycled oil will displace its use in existing products and create demand that will increase the cost of corn and soy. He believes that this will exacerbate global food insecurity and drive deforestation in climate crucial regions like the Brazilian Amazon.
Community members and organizations also questioned the baseline that was used in the EIR to measure the project’s emissions reductions. The planning department staff selected a five year average as the baseline. If the staff had used emissions from the year-and-a-half that the plant had been idled as the baseline for comparison the emissions would amount to a net increase rather than a decrease.
Planning Commissioner Ross Hillesheim asked the planning commission staff about the permit that the refinery is currently operating under. Lashun Cross of the planning department responded saying that the refinery has been operating for over 100 years preceding permit requirements for this type of industrial activity. Hillesheim then asked the staff if the refinery could continue to process petroleum based fuels under the existing entitlement. The staff confirmed this and stated that they assumed that if the project was not approved that the refinery would continue to process petroleum products.
Several community members and union representatives spoke in favor of the project expressing enthusiasm for good paying jobs building and running a facility that would produce sustainable fuels.
In his comments during the final vote Kevin Van Buskirk said that years ago he always wondered why they were building more homes in Clyde with the smell from the refinery, “…but you know, you buy a home in a certain areas and then… you know, its like my neighbors who bought a home by the College Park High School and then they were offended when the lights went on the football field…my gosh, I don’t know what else to say but I think it’s a good project.”
The planning commission will review the final EIR for the P66 biofuel conversion this Wednesday March 30 at 5pm.
The Marathon Renewable Fuels Project will now go to the Contra Costa board of supervisors for final approval.
