San Francisco Chronicle: One worker burned in leak at Martinez refinery: “A leak at the Shell refinery in Martinez on Tuesday night spewed oil into the surrounding neighborhood, sent a cloud of gas into the sky and seriously burned an employee, according to Contra Costa health officials.”: Wednesday, November 9, 2005

Leslie Fulbright

A leak at the Shell refinery in Martinez on Tuesday night spewed oil into the surrounding neighborhood, sent a cloud of gas into the sky and seriously burned an employee, according to Contra Costa health officials.

"It looks like one of the heat-exchanger units was leaking and gave off a release of gas," said Randy Sawyer, hazardous materials programs director for Contra Costa Health Services.

A worker burned by hot oil was taken to Doctors Medical Center in San Pablo, Sawyer said.

The leak, reported at 8:29 p.m., was not expected to create a health hazard and a shelter-in-place warning was not issued. Officials said the leak came from a machine that either heated up oil or cooled it down.

The unit was shut down, but workers were having difficulty getting to it because of hot oil on the ground.

"I think the biggest concern is the oil getting off site and onto people's property," Sawyer said. "We have complaints of oil spraying on Pacheco Boulevard for two or three blocks."

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