Attorney General, Neighboring Communities Contacted : Torrance Seeks Powerful Allies in Mobil Suit

Declaring that safety issues at Mobil’s Torrance refinery have statewide importance, Torrance City Atty. Ken Nelson is seeking to enlist the legal firepower of the state attorney general in the city’s lawsuit against the oil company.

In addition, Nelson said he will suggest that the City Council seek the support of neighboring municipalities, which might be affected by accidents at the Mobil refinery, as well as cities farther from Torrance that also have refineries.

The city filed a suit against Mobil on April 7, seeking to have a judge declare that the refinery is a public nuisance and a threat to the community, and that the city has the authority to regulate it.

Although the attorney general’s office has had informal discussions about taking a role in the lawsuit, Torrance’s request, which was mailed last week, had not arrived as of Wednesday.

“We will look at it as quickly as we can,” Theodora Berger, senior assistant attorney general in charge of the environmental section, said Wednesday.

A decision to intervene as co-counsel or in a lesser role will depend on a determination of the case’s statewide importance as well as the availability of funding and staff, officials said.

Nelson said the city’s position is that the Mobil refinery “is a matter of such environmental importance that it is a statewide concern.”

A key element of the claim that the lawsuit’s scope has statewide implications is the contention that there is the possibility of a release of hydrofluoric acid from the refinery that could be as catastrophic as the Union Carbide gas release that killed 3,000 people in Bhopal, India, in 1984.

Mobil, in a report released last month, said there is almost no risk to the public from its use of hydrofluoric acid.

Nelson said that having Atty. Gen. John K. Van de Kamp’s office on the legal team opposing Mobil would aid the city’s cause because it has a pool of legal talent experienced in environmental cases and because having the state’s chief legal officer on the city’s side lends additional credibility to the case.

“He has a wider influence than I have,” Nelson said.

In Carson--a few miles east of the Mobil refinery and home to three other refineries, Mayor Michael Mitoma said he agrees with Torrance’s legal position and is sympathetic to aiding Torrance in some fashion.

“I will bring it up with our city attorney,” he said.

Mobil “is a tremendous risk to the community of Carson,” Mitoma added. “The winds, especially in the afternoon, blow strongly toward Carson.”

None of the three refineries in Carson--Arco, Shell and Fletcher--use hydrofluoric acid, but Councilwoman Vera Robles DeWitt said she intends to direct city staff to monitor “all refinery-related safety issues,” and to recommend possible action.

In El Segundo, the Chevron refinery, largest in the Los Angeles basin, also does not use hydrofluoric acid. City Manager Fred Sorsabal said, however, that city officials worry about other dangerous chemicals and that the city probably will also try to regulate its refinery.

“It had nothing to do with the perils of Torrance. We started this about six to seven months ago,” Sorsabal said, referring to the city’s hazardous-materials management plan.

“I think there will be some (ordinances) in the future to regulate.”