TORRANCE : City to Weigh Acid Use at Refinery

The future use of hydrofluoric acid at the Mobil Oil Corp. refinery in Torrance will be discussed at a public meeting Wednesday.

The meeting was called by Torrance officials, who are considering a consultant’s recommendation that Mobil should be allowed to use a modified form of the controversial acid at its 750-acre refinery.

Some critics have called on Mobil to switch to sulfuric acid, labeling hydrofluoric acid too dangerous for use in a highly populated area.

But in a report released Jan. 3, a court-monitored safety adviser concluded that a new additive developed by Mobil substantially reduces the “potential risk” of hydrofluoric acid, which is used to boost the octane in unleaded gasoline.

The city and Mobil have until Feb. 2 to file objections to the report, done by EQE Engineering International of Irvine.

EQE is monitoring safety at the refinery as part of a 1990 consent decree between the city and Mobil. That agreement ended a public-nuisance lawsuit that Torrance brought against the oil giant after a series of refinery explosions and fires.

Concerns about refinery safety have been heightened in recent months, following an Oct. 19 explosion injured 28 workers. The cause of the accident, which occurred near the unit that uses hydrofluoric acid, remains under investigation by the state safety agency Cal/OSHA.

Representatives of Mobil, EQE and the Torrance Fire Department will be on hand to answer questions at the meeting, which begins at 7 p.m. at the Torrance Civic Center meeting room, adjacent to the Armstrong Theatre.