Local News in Brief : No Citation for Noxious Fumes

Air quality officials said Thursday that they cannot prove that the Mobil Oil refinery in Torrance was the source of foul-smelling fumes that resulted in hospital treatment for eight students and two teachers at a nearby school Wednesday, and no citations are planned.

Because of the wind direction, Torrance fire officials said it is likely that the refinery was the source of the fumes, which some said had a rotten egg smell. But the Fire Department’s hazardous material team found no detectable levels of hydrogen sulfide, which produces such a smell, and refinery officials said they were unable to detect any malfunction that might have caused it.

Bill Kelly, a spokesman for the South Coast Air Quality Management District, said an air quality inspector also was unable to locate the source of the odors, which disrupted classes at Philip Magruder Middle School a quarter-mile away.

“We have not issued a notice of violation because we have not been able to verify that Mobil is the source,” Kelly said. “Mobil is not admitting they are the source.”

A Mobil spokesman said, however, that the oil company would pay the hospital bills of the children and teachers who were treated.