New Form of Toxic Chemical Safer in Spills, Scientists Say : Health: Additives to hydrofluoric acid, commonly used in South Bay refineries, could eliminate harmful clouds in an accident. But some environmentalists are skeptical.

Researchers have nearly perfected a new form of hydrofluoric acid that they say would greatly diminish the threat of a public health disaster from a spill of the toxic chemical, which is used by several South Bay industrial plants.

A joint venture led by Mobil Oil and Phillips Petroleum is developing additives that prevent hydrofluoric acid from vaporizing and forming a toxic cloud if it is spilled in an accident, posing a risk to residents in nearby neighborhoods. Three South Bay industrial plants use the chemical in bulk: the Mobil refinery in Torrance, the Ultramar refinery in Wilmington and the Allied Signal refrigeration plant in El Segundo. Allied Signal officials, however, say the new form of the chemical may not be suitable for its plant.

The research “has been very, very encouraging,” said Joel Maness, manager of Mobil’s Torrance refinery. “The word I get back is ‘So far, so good.’ It’s a major technological advance.”

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The petroleum companies have been seeking a safer form of the chemical for at least two years, after the South Coast Air Quality Management District ordered the substance banned by 1999 because of the public health risk. Hydrofluoric acid at room temperature forms a toxic cloud that can travel several miles and cause respiratory, eye and skin ailments.

But if it is proved that the additives would make hydrofluoric acid safer, the agency may drop its efforts to ban the chemical, said district spokesman Bill Kelly. AQMD officials are expected to begin public hearings on the new additives within the next two months.

Environmental groups, health officials and other researchers who pushed for the ban say they do not know enough about the newly formulated chemical to comment on its safety. But some environmentalists nevertheless are skeptical because the research is being conducted by petrochemical companies.

The AQMD targeted hydrofluoric acid after two industrial accidents in 1987. In October of that year, a hydrogen fluoride spill at the Marathon oil refinery in Texas City, Tex., sent 1,000 residents to emergency rooms with eye and skin irritations. In November, an overflow of the chemical at Mobil’s Torrance refinery precipitated a major explosion and 15-hour fire that caused $17 million in property damage, but no serious injuries.

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The city of Torrance sued Mobil after the accident, but reached a pretrial settlement in 1989 that required the refinery to quit using the chemical by 1997 unless a substitute was found by 1994.

The AQMD had required other refineries in the Los Angeles Basin to phase out the chemical by 1998, and Allied Signal’s refrigeration plant was given until 1999.

Last year, however, the AQMD order to phase out hydrofluoric acid was suspended after a state appellate court ruled that the Ultramar refinery was not given enough time to respond to environmental concerns about the substance. The AQMD is revising the language of its order.

The AQMD has since been encouraged that Mobil and other oil companies were making progress in the development of the additive to make the acid safer and forestall a ban.

“The feeling here is that we don’t have conclusive information on the additives yet, but we will shortly,” Kelly said.

According to Mobil, its researchers have developed ways to reduce the vaporization of the acid by 90% while maintaining its effectiveness in the production of high-octane gasoline, Maness said.

Mobil and Phillips, which expect to spend $40 million in developing the additives, are now testing the newly formed chemical at a Mobil refinery in New Jersey. The companies also released the chemical in unpopulated fields in Oklahoma in tests described by Maness as “absolutely striking” because of the lack of vaporization.

Once the additives are perfected, Mobil and Phillips plan to license it to other refineries, he said.

Allied Signal, however, which uses hydrofluoric acid in its manufacture of refrigerants, says that the additives wouldn’t work in its production process.

“There’s no known technology for our use,” said Bill Mason, manager of employee relations at the plant, which employs 72 people. If the AQMD were to ban it from using hydrofluoric acid, the El Segundo facility probably would close, he said.

Some environmental groups say that an independent researcher should verify the safety of the reformulated chemical.

“If there was a way to make (hydrofluoric acid) a lot safer, why didn’t they do so years ago?” asked Fred Millar, director of the toxics project for Friends of the Earth in Washington. “There’s a danger that this is a red herring, a way of dragging things out.”