Torrance Council Defends Its Methods in Battle With Mobil Refinery

In a strongly worded letter released to local newspapers, the Torrance City Council has defended its efforts to regulate the Mobil Oil refinery and rejected an initiative campaign to force the refinery to abandon the use of highly toxic hydrofluoric acid.

The letter declares the city has made “a major and bold commitment” in addressing safety at the refinery. But it also accused the sponsor of the initiative campaign, Councilman Dan Walker, of plotting to “capitalize politically on the community’s fears.”

Written by Mayor Katy Geissert, the letter is signed by six of the seven council members. It was authorized unanimously by the council Tuesday evening. Walker was not asked to sign the letter.

Reasons for Suit Stated

At the Tuesday council meeting and in private for the past several weeks, council members have said the initiative campaign gives residents the impression that Walker is more concerned about refinery safety than other council members. The letter is an attempt to prevent Walker from gaining public support for his initiative, they said.

The letter states the city’s reasons for the suit it filed against Mobil last week in Los Angeles Superior Court. The suit asks the court to declare the refinery a public nuisance and give Torrance the authority to regulate it.

Walker shrugged off the criticism and said he is not worried that the council’s opposition may affect the success of his campaign, which began with a mass mailing last week. “The initiative speaks for itself,” he said.

Council members have said privately that they fear that because of Walker’s attention-grabbing tactics, the council may be seen as inattentive to residents’ worries about the refinery.

“I think we need to let (the public) know that we are deeply concerned with the situation with Mobil and that we are working very hard to deal with it,” said Councilman Mark Wirth.

The council members are angry with Walker. They have long opposed his initiative, which he announced in December. They argue that if enacted, the city could be found liable for damages to Mobil and that a special election to consider the initiative would cost $115,000.

Protect the City

The council said it believes its suit has a better chance of succeeding and would protect the city from a damage action by Mobil.

At the council meeting, Councilman George Nakano said: “I would like to remind Mr. Walker that I have publicly stated the dangers of hydrofluoric acid back in March of ’88. And in fact, as far as the City Council meetings go, I think that I was the first to state that publicly.”

Since Walker announced his initiative, Wirth said residents have been calling him to ask what the city is doing to improve safety at the refinery.

The letter accuses Walker of using his initiative campaign to capitalize on a series of explosions, fires and accidents at the refinery that have killed three people and seriously injured more than a dozen since 1987.

“In spite of the fact that he was privy to and in agreement with each council decision, one City Council member, Dan Walker, secretly plotted to capitalize politically on the community’s fears,” the letter said.

Walker, replying to the barrage of criticisms in the letter, said: “If the price of eliminating the storage of a monstrous quantity of hydrofluoric acid at Mobil is that people will take potshots at me--that’s life.”

Rather than a petition drive, Walker is seeking signatures with a mailing to 45,650 households. The mailer warns that Mobil’s use of acutely hazardous hydrofluoric acid could threaten the lives of thousands of residents and asks them to send their signature to Walker. The initiative would limit the storage of hydrofluoric acid to 250 gallons.

A Special Election

The City Charter requires that a special election be held if Walker collects signatures from 15% or more of the city’s 70,023 voters. If he collects at least 10% of the voters’ signatures, an initiative would appear on the ballot at the next municipal election, in March, 1990. That is the election in which Geissert, Wirth, Councilman Bill Applegate and Councilwoman Dee Hardison would face reelection.

In either case, the council could avoid an election on the initiative by adopting it by majority vote.

“It is my hope that the initiative receives such resounding support that my colleagues will understand the concern of the community and adopt it,” Walker said.