Strict Law Sought on Hazardous Chemicals : Environment: Worried about accidents at a refinery, Torrance may draft an ordinance that’s tougher than state rules.

The city of Torrance is seeking a consultant to help devise a wide-ranging ordinance for controlling the use of acutely hazardous chemicals in the city.

The proposed ordinance, inspired in part by problems at the Mobil Oil Corp. refinery in Torrance, is aimed at giving the city the power to regulate certain chemicals and to ban those it finds too risky.

The ordinance would be more stringent than current state guidelines and could be among the first of its kind in the nation, city officials say.

The City Council voted 7 to 0 to authorize a search for a consultant who would help write regulations to govern the use of acutely hazardous chemicals. The consultant, probably a risk-assessment expert, would set written standards for determining the safety of chemicals and balancing their benefits and risks.

The council has set aside $100,000 to pay for the consultant, but the exact cost is unknown, city officials said.

“The problems we’ve had with the Mobil refinery have shed light on the lack of control” the city has over chemicals being used by local industries, said Councilman Timothy Mock, chairman of the council’s Public Safety Committee, which has overseen plans for stepped-up city regulation of chemicals.

The adoption of an ordinance, Mock said in an interview Wednesday, will establish more local control and reassure citizens that “acutely hazardous materials” in the city are being used safely.

The state classifies about 360 chemicals as “acutely hazardous.” They include hydrofluoric acid, a highly toxic substance used by Mobil to boost the octane of unleaded gasoline.

As proposed, the ordinance would expand the role of the city’s Chemical Review Board, giving it the power to regulate the use of acutely hazardous chemicals. The board could give a company a permit to use a chemical, deny that permit or require changes in how the company uses the chemical.

The board would use the regulations developed by the consultant. Its decisions could be appealed to the City Council.

Steve Whitehead, community representative for Dow Chemical Co. in Torrance, critiqued the ordinance before the council vote, expressing concern about the city’s approach and how increased regulation would affect local industry and the use of acutely hazardous chemicals.

“There can be a benefit to allowing companies to use this material, if it’s used safely,” said Whitehead, who is chairman of a special committee studying the ordinance for the Torrance Area Chamber of Commerce.

While the council was unanimous in authorizing the job search, Mayor Katy Geissert said she has questions about how the ordinance would operate.

“I have a very real concern about the manageability of the process that’s laid out before us,” Geissert said.

Mock said he hopes that the consultant will be hired by year’s end and that the ordinance, with its regulations, will go to the council for approval next spring or summer.

City officials point to the 750-acre Mobil refinery as a major reason the city is seeking increased regulatory power.

In the last three years, a series of explosions, fires and accidents at the refinery have killed three people, caused more than a dozen injuries and focused public attention on refinery safety.

The city filed suit against Mobil in April, 1989, in an effort to have the refinery declared a public nuisance. The suit goes to trial Nov. 5. in Torrance Superior Court.

On Tuesday night, the City Council approved spending another $500,000 to pay for the Mobil suit. That would bring the city’s total costs in the suit to $1.4 million.