The Martinez Refining Company in Contra Costa County has reported yet another release of 'coke dust' just 11 days after its previous incident, spurring concerns among the locals and authorities, according to CBS News San Francisco.

Contra Costa Health notified that the hazardous release occurred on Saturday evening, but their teams found no evidence of the coke dust in the surrounding neighborhoods, as per Mercury News. This follows a similar release on July 11, when MRC reported coke dust on cars and surfaces near the refinery.

MRC stated that coke dust is primarily composed of carbon and is chemically similar to charcoal. The health concerns associated with the substance, as informed by the health department, include irritation of the throat, lungs, and respiratory systems. The previous release was investigated and found to not contain high levels of toxic metals, thereby not posing a long-term risk to public health.

In a recent Facebook statement, the Martinez Refining Company assured the public that the release was contained within the refinery grounds and that there were no off-site impacts. They also mentioned that they immediately contacted the appropriate agencies and conducted community monitoring, expressing apologies for any concern caused to the community.

However, this new release comes in the wake of ongoing investigation into the refinery's release of toxic heavy metals into the community back in November 2022, as reported by Mercury News. In that instance, MRC faced severe criticism for releasing 20-24 tons of spent catalyst and failing to notify Contra Costa Health, which eventually learned about the incident through media reports. The emission consisted of elevated levels of aluminum, barium, chromium, nickel, vanadium, and zinc, which can cause respiratory issues.