TORRANCE : Mobil Will Build Shed to Cover Residue Pile
The mountainous pile of coke, or coal residue, on the property of the Mobil Oil refinery in Torrance, will disappear from view sometime next year.
A contractor will build a storage barn to cover the material and then landscape the site on Crenshaw Boulevard, north of Del Amo Boulevard.
Enclosing the coke, a residue produced in oil refining, will help confine the black dust that blows off the pile and improve the view from nearby homes, Mobil spokesman Barry Engelberg said.
About 200,000 tons of coke is stored outside the plant while it awaits shipment to Europe and Japan, where it is used as heating fuel. Documents filed with the city Planning Commission show that the company plans to reduce the pile to about 80,000 tons and enclose it in the new 79,300-square-foot barn.
The construction also will include a truck- and rail-loading station.
The Planning Commission unanimously approved the $15-million project April 20. Unless a formal appeal is filed within 15 days, the project will go forward. Engelberg said construction is expected to begin in July and take about a year.
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