NEWARK, Calif. --
The failure of a heat exchange unit at the Evergreen Oil company refinery triggered an early Tuesday morning explosion, fire and release of hydrochloric acid, according to a plant official.
While there was a major response to the fire to the refinery located near Cherry and Smith Avenues, officials said, there was no danger to local residents and no need for a shelter-in-place order.
The failure occurred at about 5:30 a.m. and fire units contained the blaze nearly two hours later.
The plant official said one employee had suffered an arm injury and was taken to a local hospital for treatment.
Martha Delgadillo was working at the plant at the time of the explosion.
"I heard a boom," she told KTVU. "The window vibrated and an alarm went off. I grabbed my purse, grabbed my jacket, my keys and I was out of there."
Evergreen Oil, Inc. is one of the largest waste oil collectors in California, and the only oil re-refining operation in the western United States.
Evergreen is also a major provider of hazardous waste services, offering customers across the state a full range of environmental services to handle all of their waste management needs
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