New Safety Charges Filed Against Mobil
Mobil Oil Corp. and Irwin Industries Inc. of Long Beach have been charged with one criminal violation each of state safety code in connection with a flash fire at the oil company’s Torrance refinery that severely burned one worker and injured another exactly one year ago.
The charges were filed at 5 p.m. Friday, the last possible moment to beat a statute-of-limitations deadline for misdemeanor cases.
The complaint in South Bay Municipal Court is the second criminal case against Mobil for safety violations brought by Torrance in the last three weeks. On July 15, Torrance City Prosecutor J. D. Lord charged Mobil, two top refinery officials, another subcontracting firm and three of its top officials with 19 misdemeanor counts stemming from an explosion July 15, 1988, that killed one man, severely burned another and injured a third.
Mobil declined to comment on the criminal charge, and Irwin Industries could not be reached for comment late Friday.
The charges, which stem from the fire on Aug. 5, 1988, are based on an investigation by the federal Occupational Safety and Health Administration.
Citing an OSHA report, the prosecutor said Mobil employees supervising contract work carried out by Irwin Industries personnel should have halted operations after flammable hydrocarbon liquids began spilling onto hot pipes.
