Crime & Safety

Update: Evergreen Refinery Oil Leak Secured, Officials Say

About 70 people were evacuated from the plant and one medical complaint was received.

Updated 10:55 a.m.

Evergreen Oil Refinery was evacuated Friday morning after a report of a "superheated oil leaking," according Alameda County Fire officials.

About 70 people were evacuated from a building as a safety precaution while a HazMat team investigated the leak, which was a potential fire hazard, at the oil refinery plant located at 6880 Smith Street, according to tweets made from the Alameda County Fire Department.

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Alameda County Fire Spokesperson Aisha Knowles said a pipe containing a superheated oil had leaked.

Evergreen Oil handles hazardous waste materials, including used
motor oil, antifreeze and other toxic waste, according to the company's
website.           

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A county hazardous materials team responded and determined there was no health hazard posed by the leak, according to Knowles.

One medical complaint was received.

The oil leak was secured around 10:30 a.m. and one engine remained on scene for standby, according to Alameda County Fire. Employees have been sent home.

Newark police was called to assist fire officials with the situation around 8:50 a.m., according to a press release.

The press release also stated that "Evergreen Oil personnel advised that there will be a strong chemical smell near and around the location, but it is not considered hazardous."

Smith Avenue was closed off to traffic for approximately two hours but was reopen by 10:45 a.m.

Last year, one employee was occurred at the refinery around 5:30 a.m. on March 29. It prompted the closure of the plant's re-refinery area.

That portion of the plant had been under repair since the March 2011 fire and one of those trains reopened in late October 2011.

This March, firefighters responded to the refinery plant after . No injuries were reported in that incident.

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- Bay City News contributed to this report.


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