Crime & Safety
Search Warrants Served To NuStar Over Refinery Tank Fire
There is still work to be done at the site of Tuesday's fire.
CROCKETT, CA — Fire investigators served a search warrant Wednesday at NuStarEnergy's facility in Crockett after a massive fire destroyed two ethanol tanks there on Tuesday.
"At 11:30 this morning we served a search warrant on NuStar,"Contra Costa County Fire Protection District spokesman Steve Hill said at an afternoon briefing.
"I want to quickly say you should not form any opinions on that because this is a common practice in fire investigations," Hill added.
Find out what's happening in Pinole-Herculesfor free with the latest updates from Patch.
"An important point I'd like to make is that NuStar and all their employees and leadership have been nothing but cooperative," Hill said. "You should not infer anything about that either."
Hill said investigators have been conducting interviews and reviewing analog documents, but their efforts were hampered by a lack of electricity. However, the power came back on Wednesday afternoon and that should allow them to review digital evidence like video footage.
Find out what's happening in Pinole-Herculesfor free with the latest updates from Patch.
Meanwhile, firefighters continue to keep a blanket of foam over a containment pond of potentially flammable material released during the fire.
"We do believe the material in those containment ponds is substantially diluted by water and foam, but just to be on the safe side we're keeping that blanket going so we don't get any oxygen in there that could result in a flare-up," Hill said.
After an assessment of how concentrated any remaining fuel in the containment pond might be, they plan to begin pumping that material out.
The fire at NuStar started with two explosions around 1:50 p.m.Tuesday, and sent a plume of thick black smoke so high into the atmosphere that it could be seen from San Francisco and Vallejo.
A shelter-in-place order was issued for the nearby areas of Crockett and Rodeo due to concerns about air quality, but emergency personnel gave the "all clear" Tuesday night. Interstate Highway 80 was also shut downin the area for several hours.
The investigation into how and why the fire started is underway, but the cause and origin have not yet been determined.
— Bay City News