Oil Company Files Suit to Block a Smog Rule

The Ultramar oil company has filed suit against the South Coast Air Quality Management District, seeking to block a new AQMD rule curbing large-scale use of hydrofluoric acid, an acutely toxic industrial chemical.

The company’s Wilmington refinery is one of five plants affected by the rule, which will phase out bulk use of hydrofluoric acid by 1999 unless industry develops a safe form of the chemical by 1994. The other plants are the Allied Signal chemical plant in El Segundo, Mobil’s Torrance refinery, and the Golden West and Powerine refineries in Santa Fe Springs.

Filed this week in Los Angeles County Superior Court, the suit by Ultramar Inc. marks the first legal challenge to the hotly debated hydrofluoric acid rule. The company’s central allegation is that the AQMD overstepped its authority when it approved the measure April 5.