LOS ANGELES : Unocal Moves to Block EPA Order Halting Work

Unocal Corp. said Monday that it has filed a motion in the U.S. 9th Circuit Court of Appeals in San Francisco to block a U.S. Environmental Protection Agency order that would shut down pre-construction work as the oil company prepares to make reformulated gasoline at its Los Angeles refinery.

The EPA order, issued last week, requires Unocal to halt the work by 8 a.m. Thursday.

Unocal, saying it is “not in violation of the law,” contends that it is only following the rules of the South Coast Air Quality Management District. The AQMD is in dispute with the EPA over a federal rule regulating refiners’ efforts to revamp facilities to meet a 1995 deadline to market the new, cleaner-burning gasoline.