Torrance Charges Mobil’s Refinery With 170 Safety Violations
Mobil Oil Corp. was charged Tuesday with 170 misdemeanor violations of the state Safety Code in the largest criminal case ever filed against the oil company’s Torrance refinery operation.
If convicted on all counts, Mobil could face a maximum fine of $2 million.
The 170 counts contained in a misdemeanor complaint filed by the City of Torrance in South Bay Municipal Court involve major safety issues, including two charges that alarms were not adequate to permit employees to escape safely from a disaster, seven charges that tanks containing hazardous material were not properly identified and one count that light bulbs were not enclosed in safety globes in areas where flammable fumes might collect.
But the case also deals with minor safety issues, such as absent guard rails for ladder holes, a failure to have a cutoff switch on a metal band saw in the electrical shop and eight counts alleging that portable lamps on lathes exposed employees to possible shock.
Legal War
The move is the latest in an escalating legal war between Mobil and Torrance. In April the city filed suit seeking to have Mobil’s $2-billion refinery declared a public nuisance subject to city regulation, and more recently it filed two criminal cases against Mobil and two top refinery officials.
Mobil, which is vigorously defending itself against all allegations that the refinery is unsafe, reacted heatedly to the latest filing.
“These charges are another blatant example of the city’s continued harassment of Mobil,” spokesman Jim Carbonetti said. “. . . During the past several months, the city has seemed intent on using the criminal process as a means of hassling Mobil when there is no basis or justification for the charges. In this instance, the city’s action goes beyond harassment to irresponsibility.”
On July 15, the city filed criminal charges in connection with an explosion at the refinery a year earlier that killed one man and injured two others. Refinery manager Wyman Robb and another top refinery official were charged with a total of six misdemeanor counts of willfully violating occupational safety standards and another count each that they “induced others to knowingly or negligently violate the state Safety Code.”
Three weeks later, the city charged Mobil with misdemeanor violations of state safety laws in connection with a fire on Aug. 5, 1988, that burned one contract employee over 40% of his body and injured another.
Earlier Cases
Like the earlier cases, the most recent charges stem from investigations conducted by the federal Occupational Safety and Health Administration. After the fatal explosion and the later fire, OSHA launched an intensive safety audit of the refinery that was concluded last November.
Carbonetti criticized Torrance for using the results of the OSHA investigation to build a criminal case against the refinery.
“This type of inspection is typically used by OSHA as a preventive measure,” he said. “At the end of that intensive inspection, OSHA issued a statement saying that there were no conditions at the refinery which might endanger workers at the plant or the surrounding community, and they went on to praise Mobil for its cooperation in the investigation. . . .”
Carbonetti said refinery officials are “prepared to sit down with the city at any time to resolve its concerns. . . . In the meantime, Mobil is continuing to make improvements in the areas of safety and environment at the . . . refinery.”
Torrance City Prosecutor J.D. Lord said he will seek to have a shutdown of the refinery incorporated into conditions of probation if the case results in convictions.
