Torrance Budgets $500,000 to Study Safety at Refinery

With all the enthusiasm of someone taking out the garbage, the Torrance City Council bowed to the need while lamenting the necessity of putting aside $500,000 to deal with Mobil Oil’s troubled refinery.

Councilwoman Dee Hardison complained that it is “ill-advised that we have to use city money to study . . . the safety of a business in Torrance.” Councilman Bill Applegate called it a wise move but added that “the money could be better used elsewhere.”

Mayor Katy Geissert, who also supported the measure, griped that the thought of spending so much money on Mobil safety issues “makes me slightly ill.”

The money will pay for consultants and studies, and about $100,000 is earmarked to cover the expenses of a ballot measure that would effectively eliminate the use of hazardous hydrofluoric acid at the refinery.

Has Taken Heat

Councilman Dan Walker, who has filed papers for the initiative signature campaign, has taken heat from council colleagues who have accused him of seeking political gain by grandstanding on a difficult problem.

The proposed measure would bar the storage or use of more than 250 gallons of hydrofluoric acid. Mobil typically has about 29,000 gallons of it at the refinery.

At Tuesday’s council meeting, Applegate gave the first sign that other council members may support regulation of hydrofluoric acid. He said it might be wise for the council to back an alternative measure if Walker’s proposal qualifies for the ballot.

Applegate said he is concerned that the city might be sued by Mobil if Walker’s proposal becomes law. He pointed to a legal opinion by former Torrance City Atty. Stanley Remelmeyer, who criticized the Walker measure as poorly written. Remelmeyer added, nevertheless, that it is likely that the measure would be upheld in court.

Collecting Research

Applegate said city officials are working on such alternative ordinances, as well as collecting scientific research about whether limits on hydrofluoric acid and other toxic substances would be prudent in a suburban area like Torrance.

Walker told his colleagues that he might agree to an improved draft of his initiative but would not agree to wholesale changes.

Although the refinery has been plagued by a variety of explosions, fire and accidents that have killed three people, seriously burned four and injured about a dozen others since 1987, almost all of the $500,000 put into a contingency fund by the council deals with problems arising from the refinery’s use of hydrofluoric acid.

Attention was drawn to the issue by a thunderous explosion and two-day fire in November, 1987, in which 100 pounds, or about 12 gallons, of the substance was released. Industry test results indicate that a rapid 1,000-gallon release of hydrofluoric acid might form a dense, ground-hugging cloud that could kill people as far as five miles away downwind.

In addition to election costs, the contingency fund is broken down as follows:

The council set aside $100,000 to cover legal and investigative costs in case the city sues Mobil or is sued by the oil company.

The council has ordered a feasibility study, estimated to cost between $80,000 and $100,000, on converting the refinery from hydrofluoric acid to the less-dangerous sulfuric acid. Both can be used to boost the octane of unleaded gasoline.

The city intends to spend between $80,000 and $100,000 for a consultant to scrutinize a Mobil study on the risk of using hydrofluoric acid. The Torrance Fire Department, in line with a new state law on disaster planning and prevention, demanded the study from the oil company but advised the council that it needs outside experts to evaluate Mobil’s work.

Additional consulting fees, not necessarily related to hydrofluoric acid, were estimated at between $40,000 and $60,000.

The $500,000 is to come from carry-over money from the 1987-88 budget, but officials complained that the city, with its $84-million general fund budget, is already strapped.