Mobil Seeks Dismissal of Suit Over Refinery

Attorneys for the Mobil Oil Corp. refinery this week asked a Los Angeles Superior Court to dismiss a lawsuit by the city of Torrance that seeks to have the refinery declared a public nuisance.

In a double-barreled response to the city’s suit, the oil company said the court should reject Torrance’s suit because the city lacks the facts to show that the refinery is unsafe, and it filed a cross-complaint asking the court to declare that the refinery “poses no unacceptable risk to the community.”

In its cross-complaint, the giant oil firm asked that it be awarded court costs and lawyers fees, but sought no monetary damages.

Mobil filed its papers Monday in response to the lawsuit filed in April by the city, which alleges that an uncontrolled release of acutely toxic hydrofluoric acid from the refinery could threaten the lives or health of hundreds of thousands of South Bay residents. It asks that the court declare the refinery a public nuisance and give the city authority to regulate it.

Max Gillam, an attorney representing Mobil, said Wednesday that the city has no right to try to regulate the refinery, which is already under the jurisdiction of various state and federal agencies.

In its filings, Mobil officials denied the city’s allegations that the refinery has a “potential for a massive disaster,” and asked Superior Court Judge Eric Younger to find instead that operation of the refinery “is in the public interest.”

Mobil’s cross-complaint contends that the refinery has demonstrated its commitment to safety by undertaking or planning several safety measures at the 735-acre plant. Mobil says it plans to spend more than $7 million for an Acid Evacuation System to rapidly store acutely toxic hydrofluoric acid in the event of an accident.

Mobil’s court filings also say the company has committed funds for installation of an emergency shutdown system in the alkylation units that use hydrofluoric acid, and has completed or will complete implementation of more than 150 other safety improvements at that unit.

The city filed its suit in response to a series of explosions, fires and accidents that have claimed three lives and caused more than a dozen serious injuries at the refinery since 1987.

City Atty. Kenneth Nelson could not be reached for comment.