Mobil Should ‘Stop Using Acid’

Add one more “expert” to the list of those who are willing to risk 10,000 lives in a Bhopal-type disaster by permitting the continued use of hydrofluoric acid at Torrance’s Mobil Oil refinery. This time it’s a spokesman for the Air Quality Management District’s task force on the use of the acid, which is satisfied with palliatives served up as adequate safety measures (Times, Dec. 29).

What the task force did not do is revealing. Quoting the Times article, “But the task force did not study the potential for human error in causing industrial accidents, which safety experts say is a leading factor in most major incidents.

“ ‘People could be wonderful for a period of time and then do something stupid,’ said David Schwien, an AQMD senior engineering manager working on the hydrofluoric acid task force. ‘We worry about that here constantly. . . . It is basic to everything we do, but I don’t know what to do about it.’ ”

We’re glad to help out with the solution. Stop using the acid. This may sound flippant but is based on 25 years of experience in reading monthly safety reports from a multiplant chemical giant. Each accident reported was carefully analyzed to explain why the accident occurred despite the existence of an elaborate safety manual. And the accidents ranged from broken bones to deaths and totally destroyed plants.

Nothing is at stake here but costs for Mobil Oil. Balanced against the potential for a major loss of life, there is no choice.

BERNIE HOLLANDER

Torrance

Editor’s Note: Hollander is a retired chemical engineer.