Mobil Refinery Raided in Pollution Case : D.A. Presses Probe of Suspected Air Quality Rule Conspiracy

Twenty investigators from the Los Angeles County district attorney’s office raided Mobil Oil Corp.’s Torrance refinery and confiscated hundreds of documents as part of an investigation into whether the company engaged in a criminal conspiracy to violate air quality rules, it was learned Thursday.

After executing a felony search warrant July 18, investigators left with seven cartons of documents, a company spokesman and the district attorney’s office confirmed.

“There is an ongoing criminal investigation, and we have made no decision as to whether or not to file charges,” Deputy Dist. Atty. Diana Bell said. She said the search warrant was based on suspicion of “felony criminal conspiracy to violate South Coast Air Quality Management District rules and regulations.”

Conspiracy Denied

Mobil spokesman Tom Collins in a telephone interview from corporate headquarters in Fairfax, Va., denied that the oil company was involved in any such conspiracy.

“Of course, there was no conspiracy,” Collins said. “The allegations that were made and have been made for some months now were wrong.”

The district attorney’s investigation began after the South Coast Air Quality Management District charged last January that Mobil had violated air quality rules for at least a year by continuing refining operations even though it knew that a major air pollution control device was not properly functioning.

Device Traps Particulates

That device, called an electrostatic precipitator, is supposed to trap particulates created during the refining process before they can escape into the atmosphere through flue gas stacks.

Tests by the air quality district indicated that the refinery was emitting seven times the allowable level of particulates. Particulates are microscopic particles that can bypass the human body’s defenses and lodge deep in the lungs and cause respiratory problems.

Collins on Thursday described Mobil’s particulate emissions as inert clay dust, which he said is not toxic, based on test results from a similar Mobil refinery in Paulsboro, N.J.

“The test procedure used to support the allegations (of illegal air pollutant emissions) was flawed,” Collins said, “and once the full facts of the whole testing procedure are known . . . it will show that what we said was true all along. We never were in violation of AQMD rules.”

In addition to the district attorney’s investigation, the air quality district has filed a civil suit against Mobil. The suit, which is pending in U.S. District Court, charges the company with 365 days of violations. The maximum penalty is $1,000 and six months in jail for each day in which a violation occurred.

Order to Comply

Earlier, the air quality district issued an order of abatement directing Mobil to repair the pollution control device and comply with air quality rules.

Collins said the refinery has passed all tests since an April 2 failure. “Our numbers have been clean as a whistle ever since,” Collins said. Those tests were based on an experimental U.S. Environmental Protection Agency method.

However, air quality district Deputy Executive Officer Jim Birakos said that based on a different testing method used by the district, Mobil had twice exceeded the 30-pounds-per-hour limit on particulate emissions since the firm was ordered to comply with air quality rules. However, in this case, the district has agreed to judge compliance on the basis of the EPA method.

Mobil plans to begin a $5-million rebuilding program in October to replace the old precipitator as well as upgrade other elements of its pollution control systems.