Torrance Street Closed By Leak From Mobil
A portion of Crenshaw Boulevard in Torrance was closed to traffic briefly Wednesday when a cloud of steam and oil from the Mobil Oil refinery wafted over the street.
Fire Department officials ordered Crenshaw closed between 190th Street and Del Amo Boulevard shortly after 4 p.m. until tests could confirm that the cloud was harmless, Torrance Police Sgt. Ron Traber said.
Mobil spokesman Barry Engelberg said the cloud of vapor spewed from a coker unit for about 10 minutes before refinery workers brought the leak under control.
“We tested and there were no toxics released,” Engelberg said, noting that the leak had been shut off by the time police closed Crenshaw.
The street remained closed for about 20 minutes, Traber said.
“All we knew was a cloud was filtering east, and we didn’t know what it was,” he said. “The Fire Department asked us to close it as a precaution.”
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