Torrance and the Mobil Open House

I applaud the action by the city of Torrance in denying Mobil Oil Corp. a permit to hold a fair within its refinery (Times, Aug. 20). In the corporation’s twisted thinking, this is supposed to convince us the refinery is safe? Goodness! What do they think we imagine is going on in there? A chemical cornucopia a la Apex Chemicals in “Batman”? Valves rusted off the pipes? Hot molten oil running down the streets? Hydrofluoric acid belching out of uncontained vats?

The problem with Mobil is not what you might or might not see in a daylong fair when you know very well the place will be spiffed up and on its best behavior. But like any complex system, it’s the little things that go wrong that can ruin your whole day. A staff error. Someone not watching the valves. A leak in a storage tank. Storage tanks polluting the underground water supply. An aging pipe bursting just when it’s carrying explosive chemicals to a dangerous spot.

Because Mobil is under investigation for safety and pollution violations, I think it’s incredibly callous on the part of its management to invite 12,000 people inside its gates. What if something goes wrong that day that isn’t attributable to staff error? What then? A catastrophe could happen.

On a scale of 1 to 10, 10 being tops for showing real concern for public safety--a 10 for Torrance, a 0 for Mobil. Back to Civic Responsibility 101, Mobil.

LIZBETH McDANNEL

Torrance