Torrance to Seek Nuisance Status for Acid Used by Mobil

Two weeks after being presented with various ways to challenge the use of acutely hazardous hydrofluoric acid at the Mobil Oil refinery in Torrance, the City Council voted unanimously to ask a Superior Court judge to decide whether the chemical’s use endangers nearby residents.

Along with authorizing its first court action against the giant oil corporation, the council Tuesday night also ordered city staff members to more closely scrutinize, and if necessary regulate, earthquake safety and the use of all hazardous materials at the refinery.

If successful in getting a judge to declare Mobil’s use of hydrofluoric acid a public nuisance, Torrance would have a sound legal basis on which to regulate the refinery’s use of the acutely toxic chemical, said City Atty. Kenneth Nelson.

Wait for Ruling

“We would not be seeking to shut down the operation or cause expensive modifications unless and until the court has determined that there is a public nuisance,” Nelson said.

Refinery Manager Wyman Robb said he expected any such challenge would find that Mobil is operated safely.

It would take about a year in court, Nelson said, to resolve an action for what is called “declaratory relief.” The arguments would require scientific evidence and expert testimony about the safety of the Mobil refinery. Nelson said later that he has no idea how much time it would take to collect the evidence in preparation for such a proceeding.

The declaratory relief action is an idea recommended by former City Atty. Stanley Remelmeyer in a 47-page legal report he submitted to the council two weeks ago.

In the report, he made it clear that declaratory actions against a “public nuisance” are commonly used in California to deal with existing hazards ranging from noise and water pollution to curbing nuisances that have previously resulted in fires or explosions. But he said an action against Mobil would ask the court to find a public nuisance based on “future probability of danger to nearby residents.”

Remelmeyer also favors the idea, because it is likely to produce relatively fast results. “The city could seek and probably obtain an early trail date . . . because of the health and welfare concern,” he wrote in the report.

Council members expressed confidence that the court ruling will be successful, noting that the city has recently acquired the legal services of Ralph Nutter, a Los Angeles attorney and former Superior Court judge, for its legal action against the refinery.

“Judge Nutter is up to speed on everything happening at Mobil and will be helping us put this together,” Nelson said.

Not Worried

Robb, who sat quietly through the 90-minute meeting, said in an interview that he is not worried about the council’s decision or that a court might find the plant poses a hazard.

“In the 40-some-odd years we have operated, we have not had a serious problem with hydrofluoric acid,” Robb said.

He added that Mobil is prepared for a drawn-out court battle with the city. “There is no question that this issue is very important to Mobil,” he said.

Last week the city budgeted $500,000 to study safety at the refinery and to pay for legal consultants for the impending court fight.

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

The other actions ordered by the council during the meeting directed the city staff to:

Create new, tighter guidelines on the use of hydrofluoric acid and other acutely hazardous materials. The city and Fire Department have been studying ways in which hazardous materials can be used more safely and have recommended numerous minor changes at the refinery. “They are mostly technical changes,” Nelson said. “It may not be necessary (to legally require the changes), but it is wise.”

Study the refinery’s structures to see if they meet seismic safety standards. If improvements are required in structures close to places where hazardous materials are used, the staff would prepare an ordinance for the council’s consideration.

Create a regulatory licensing procedure to ensure that Mobil follows city regulations. An operating license would mandate a periodic, independent evaluation of the Fire Safety Code, the refinery’s risk mangement and prevention plan, operating procedures, and safety records.

City Manager LeRoy Jackson said these measures have been studied by the city and Fire Department for several months. Within the next three months the staff will present the ordinances separately for the council’s consideration, he said.

Despite unanimity in its votes on Mobil, council members attacked Dan Walker, who was the first council member to take action against Mobil.

Walker, acting on his own in December, filed papers for an initiative campaign to effectively eliminate the use of hydrofluoric acid at the plant. Council members accused Walker of seeking political gain by grandstanding on one of the city’s most difficult problems.

Councilman Bill Applegate said Walker had tried to make it appear that he “is the only person on this council who is concerned about safety at the refinery. Nothing is further from the truth.”

Mayor Katy Geissert criticized the initiative as premature, saying the process should be used only after a City Council is unwilling to act on a problem. “This is not the case here,” she said.

“Mr. Walker, you made the comment that ‘we’ are moving in the right direction,” Geissert said to Walker during the meeting. “Mr. Walker, ‘we’ are not with you.”

Applegate asked Walker to withdraw his initiative.

But Walker, who showed no concern and even smiled a few times while he was criticized, said he is refiling his initiative with only two minor technical changes. According to campaign statements released Wednesday, Walker spent $10,567 from his campaign funds for the legal advice to draft the initiative.

The council voted unanimously to analyze the viability of the initiative and what it would cost to defend. It has not been determined how long it will take to complete that study, Jackson said.

In response to charges that the initiative is an attempt at political gain and would not make the refinery safer, Walker said: “On the contrary, it does accomplish what the people of this city want.”