Torrance, Unions Voice Concern After Refinery Blast

Torrance City Council members and local labor unions expressed concern in separate ways Tuesday about the safety of Mobil Oil Corp.’s Torrance refinery after a major explosion and fire there three weeks ago.

Only hours after more than 50 union members and some neighborhood residents picketed the refinery to protest alleged health and safety problems, City Council members asked their staff to report back as soon as possible on safety issues at the refinery.

Torrance Mayor Katy Geissert said the community is concerned after the Nov. 24 explosion, which injured two people, shattered windows in nearby homes and businesses, spotted cars and caused millions of dollars in damage to a refinery unit.

Although the city has had “a very good, cordial relationship with Mobil over the years,” Geissert said, “I’m not sure we know what’s going on inside the refinery.

Geissert asked for an assessment of the risks involved in Mobil’s use of hydrofluoric acid in the refinery to boost the octane in gasoline.

Union members on the picket line in front of the refinery during the morning rush hour warned that hydrofluoric acid could be more dangerous than the gas cloud that escaped from a Union Carbide plant in Bhopal, India, causing more than 2,000 deaths in December, 1984.

Mobil spokesman James A. Carbonetti confirmed that hydrogen fluoride is used in the refinery.

“We know that it is a hazardous chemical and we have built our systems to incorporate safety features,” he said.

But union leaders, led by the Pipe Trades District Council, called on U.S. Sen. Alan Cranston (D-California) to launch a congressional investigation of the refinery.

Ray Foreman, business manager for the Pipe Trades Council, said the explosion was the latest in a series of plant breakdowns, air quality violations and safety problems that are threatening refinery workers and the surrounding community.

The sign-carrying demonstrators also protested the use of non-union workers on a $200-million project to reduce the sulfur content of California crude oil at the refinery.

As the pickets gathered at the refinery gates, refinery manager Wyman D. Robb issued a statement attempting to reassure the community that Mobil wants to be a good neighbor.

“We recognize that the recent accident has raised questions in the minds of some people regarding the safety of refineries,” Robb said. “However, this refinery is designed, built, operated and maintained with safety as the overriding concern.”

Robb conceded that major refinery fires “look spectacular, particularly on television,” but are rare occurrences. He noted that there were only minor injuries in last month’s explosion.

The cause of the explosion is still under investigation, but investigators have ruled out sabotage and determined that a telephone bomb threat received shortly after the blast was a hoax, spokesman Carbonetti said.

The refinery, built in 1929, has a capacity of 123,000 barrels a day of crude oil. It produces 75,000 barrels of gasoline daily plus jet fuel and other petroleum products.