Task Force Urged for Initiative

Torrance City Councilman Tim Mock has requested that city staff form a task force to draft a proposed March ballot measure that would tighten controls on all hazardous chemicals in the city.

Mock said Tuesday that he wants the measure to require industries to obtain a conditional-use permit to use and store hazardous chemicals. A panel of experts would review the safety of a chemical’s use on a case-by-case basis before issuing a permit, Mock said.

The proposed measure would also provide voters with an alternative to an initiative proposed by Councilman Dan Walker, which is only intended to restrict the use of acutely hazardous hydrofluoric acid at the Mobil Oil refinery, Mock said in an interview.

Walker has said he expects to collect enough signatures within the next three weeks to get his initiative on the March ballot.

Mock stressed the need for tighter restrictions but also said he feared that if Walker’s initiative succeeds, it will tie up the city in a court battle for years.

“I would do almost anything to stop Walker’s initiative,” he said.

Walker said that he is concerned that Mock’s proposed measure will be a “back-door attempt” to derail his ballot measure and may confuse voters.

Mock’s proposal would require approval by the City Council to place it on the ballot.

A series of fires, explosions and gas leaks at the Mobil refinery have killed three people and seriously injured at least 12 others since March of 1987, prompting the city to file a suit in Los Angeles Superior Court. The suit asks that the court declare the refinery a public nuisance and give the city the power to regulate it.