Shell Told to Pay $16,750 in Discharge of Fumes

Shell Oil Co. was ordered Monday to pay a fine of $11,750 and donate $5,000 for environmental education to the Los Angeles Unified School District after pleading guilty to charges connected with the discharge last year of hazardous fumes from its Carson refinery.

Deputy Dist. Atty. Erica Martin said the corporation, which was also placed on 12 months’ probation, pleaded guilty in Compton Municipal Court to one count of negligently creating a public nuisance by allowing refinery fumes to leak for about an hour on Nov. 16, 1990.

Students from several neighborhood schools were exposed to the foul-smelling cloud of hydrogen sulfide, butane and propane that escaped during testing of a gasoline processing unit. Fire and air quality officials reported hundreds of calls from South Bay residents complaining of sore eyes and breathing problems, but no serious injuries were reported.