Protesters Assail Mobil Over Safety
About 50 sign-carrying demonstrators paraded in front of Mobil’s troubled Torrance refinery Friday, protesting what they termed a poor safety record stemming from a company attitude of putting profits over safety.
Mobil safety manager Greg Munakata denied the contention. “Is this a safe place to work? Absolutely. I have been here for seven years and consider it safe. . . . There have been some incidents.”
A series of explosions, fires, injuries and toxic releases--and the deaths of three contract workers--in the last 18 months at the plant have prompted an intensive safety inspection by the federal Occupational Safety and Health Administration and a safety audit by the city of Torrance.
Air Quality Study
In addition, the South Coast Air Quality Management District created a task force to consider whether to eliminate highly toxic hydrofluoric acid at the refinery and other facilities after 100 pounds of the substance was released in an explosion and fire at the refinery last November.
The protest Friday was the latest in a series of similar demonstrations staged outside the refinery several days a week for several weeks. The group sponsoring the demonstration calls itself Concerned Citizens for Local Jobs, and includes residents and members of the steam-fitters union Local 250.
The hourlong event Friday, which drew about twice the usual crowd, featured Torrance Councilman Mark Wirth, who is the Democratic candidate in the 51st Assembly District, and Jack Hachmeister, the Democratic candidate in the 29th Senate District.
“Safety of workers is a big issue,” said Hachmeister, adding that the Mobil safety record was a reason to support a ballot measure, Proposition 97, that would reinvigorate Cal OSHA, the state safety agency. In a budget-cutting move in 1987, Gov. George Deukmejian eliminated enforcement of safety regulations by the state agency.
“This plant is a typical example of the need for Cal OSHA,” Hachmeister said.
The 2-day November fire was depicted in large photographs carried on some of the signs Friday. Other signs said, “Mobil Greed Is the Major Cause of These Deaths and Explosions. . . . Citizens of Torrance Say No to Mobil Safety Methods. . . . Mobil Oil, the Killing Fields. . . . Bhopal, Calif., Sponsored by Mobil Playhouse. . . . Business Is Booming at Mobil.”
Munakata said of the demonstrators: “Pretty creative writers.”
Training Questioned
Local 250 members say that non-union contract workers, who frequently live outside the area, are not as well trained in safety procedures as unionized Mobil employees and lack familiarity with the refinery.
Munakata acknowledged that the more prominent accidents have involved contract employees, but asserted that, “I don’t see what basis they have for saying these contractors were not trained.” He said that two contract employees who died in accidents were “thoroughly trained.”
In addition, he said that Mobil staffers supervise contract employees. “We do not presume knowledge on the part of these workers,” he said.
