Higher anxiety per gallon

State and federal safety officials are worried by a Bakersfield refinery’s proposal to use a toxic chemical shunned by most California oil companies.

Executives at Big West Oil of California have been talking about plans to produce more gasoline and diesel at the refinery since 2005, when parent company Flying J Inc. bought the plant from Shell Oil Co.

The expansion project was expected to face opposition on air-quality grounds, as is common with industrial proposals in California. But safety experts weren’t prepared for Big West’s recent disclosure that it would use hydrofluoric acid in its new equipment instead of a widely used, safer substitute.

“It caught me off guard,” said Clyde Trombettas, a process safety expert at the California Division of Occupational Safety and Health. Processes using hydrofluoric acid, commonly known as HF, “are just so hazardous ... there’s a reason why refineries moved away from it.”

Edward Huhn, secretary and treasurer of the refinery’s United Steelworkers union local, said Big West’s plans had alarmed employees. Many believe that the Bakersfield plant has become less safe under its new owners, he added.

“Safety has gotten to be more of a problem with the current management than it was before,” Huhn said. “Part of it is possibly not abiding by all the safety regulations, and part of it is not having enough trained personnel ... so the HF unit is going to be a concern.”

Gene Cotten, vice president and manager of the Bakersfield plant, acknowledged that there had been disagreements about safety policies and that the number of minor injuries at the refinery had increased over the last two years. But he characterized the facility’s overall safety record as “pretty good.”

He also defended the company’s decision to use hydrofluoric acid as part of the expansion. Many refineries have used the chemical safely, including a sister plant owned by Flying J in North Salt Lake, Utah, Cotten said.

“We recognize that it is something that people will be interested in,” Cotten said. “But we’ve selected the superior technology ... and with the new, modern things we’re going to do, and all the mitigation efforts, we feel we can manage the risks.”

Big West’s plans are being reviewed by the Kern County Planning Department and the San Joaquin Valley Air Pollution Control District, which must approve permits for the project. Details were laid out in a draft environmental impact report, released in mid-February.

The project would nearly double the plant’s gasoline production and increase its diesel output 60% -- an important supply boost in a state where fuel demand has outstripped refinery production.

“The Energy Commission has been talking about the problem of refineries not keeping pace with the growth in demand,” said Gordon Schremp, fuels expert with the California Energy Commission. “So no matter who is proposing a refinery expansion, from a fuel-supply perspective, that’s good.”

To get the increase, Big West plans to add equipment that would convert a low-grade refinery byproduct called gas oil into motor fuels. The new processing units would transform the gas oil into an additional 1.2 million gallons of gasoline and diesel a day, Cotten said.

Cotten’s company was hailed by government officials when it bought the plant and derailed Shell’s plans to shutter the refinery. Then-Atty. Gen. Bill Lockyer called the reprieve “a victory for California drivers” because it kept open a refinery that produced 2% of the state’s gasoline and 6% of its diesel and raised the possibility of higher output.

But the potential use of hydrofluoric acid raises significant safety questions, experts say.

HF is a fast-acting, corrosive chemical that forms a toxic cloud when released into the atmosphere. Experts say even slight contact can cause burns that penetrate the skin into the tissue underneath. Severe exposure can kill people by causing an irregular heartbeat or excess fluid to build up in the lungs.

“Accidents may or may not ever happen ... and it has a low probability,” said Mohsen Nazemi, a top officer with the South Coast Air Quality Management District, which tried to ban the chemical from Southern California refineries. “But if it does happen, the consequences would be very significant.”

Refineries have used hydrofluoric acid for decades to help produce alkylate, an octane booster and key component of cleaner-burning fuels. But safety concerns have driven the chemical out of many plants in recent years, with most adopting a safer process that uses sulfuric acid.

The only state refineries that still use the chemical -- Valero Energy Corp.’s Wilmington plant and Exxon Mobil Corp.’s facility in Torrance -- have installed or agreed to install safety modifications that reduce the chemical’s tendency to vaporize.

Big West, however, said it had rejected the sulfuric acid option because it used more energy, was less effective and required more frequent replenishment, which would create additional hazardous truck traffic.

The company ruled out the modified hydrofluoric acid process adopted by Valero and Exxon because Big West “lacks confidence” that the necessary engineering support would be provided by ConocoPhillips, which owns the technology used in the modified system.

Instead, Big West said it would incorporate sensors, a water dousing system and other measures to reduce the risk of a catastrophic accident.

“Just the fact that they are going to be using hydrofluoric acid instead of sulfuric acid is something that people should be worried about,” said Alex Fidis, an attorney at the U.S. Public Interest Research Group, a consumer advocacy organization that published a 2005 study called “Needless Risk” that examined the use of hydrofluoric acid in refineries.

Adding the chemical at the Bakersfield plant could elevate the refinery’s rank on the government’s list of potential terrorist targets and would probably trigger more security requirements, Fidis said. Refineries are tempting targets, he said, “not only because of the symbolic nature of the plants, but also because the release of hydrofluoric acid could cause severe casualties.”

Many refineries operate safely despite their constant use of extremely hot, dangerous chemicals subjected to high pressure.

Francisco Altamirano, an investigator with the U.S. Chemical Safety Board, said his agency hadn’t investigated any accidents that involved hydrofluoric acid.

“There are lots of hydrofluoric acid units here in this country, and thank God we haven’t had any bad incidents,” Altamirano said. Still, he was “quite surprised” to hear that a new one was being proposed, given the danger.

The draft environmental impact report, open for public comment through Thursday, counted 50 day-care centers, five medical centers, six nursing homes and 107 schools within a five-mile radius of Big West’s Bakersfield refinery.

“We’re expecting a flood of comments next week,” said Lorelei Oviatt, special projects division chief at the Kern County Planning Department. “We’re all for oil up here, but we want to be very careful and conscientious in weighing this project.”

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elizabeth.douglass@latimes.com

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(BEGIN TEXT OF INFOBOX)

Bigger output

Name: Flying J refinery

Owner: Big West Oil of California, a subsidiary of Ogden, Utah-based truck stop operator Flying J Inc.

Location: Bakersfield

Current production: 23,000 barrels of gasoline and 18,000 barrels of diesel a day

Projected production: 42,000 barrels of gasoline and 29,000 barrels of diesel a day

Project cost: More than $600 million

Current employment: 210 to 220

Projected employment: 310 to 320

Source: Big West Oil of California

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Hydrofluoric acid

Alternative name: Hydrogen fluoride

Properties: A noncombustible, clear, colorless, corrosive, fuming liquid with an acrid odor.

Purpose: In tandem with an alkylation unit, used as a catalyst to help form alkylate, an octane booster for fuel.

Refining use: Two of California’s 14 fuel-making refineries use HF -- Valero Energy’s Wilmington plant and Exxon Mobil’s refinery in Torrance. Exxon has modified its procedures to increase safety and Valero is completing a similar safety project this year. Flying J Inc. isn’t planning to incorporate such safety improvements at its Bakersfield refinery, which may begin using the chemical by 2009.

Hazards: Forms dense, white vapor clouds when released. Both liquid and vapor can cause severe burns and penetrate skin. Inhalation or contact with skin can be fatal. Symptoms can be delayed as long as 24 hours and range in severity from irritation of the eyes, nose and respiratory tract to death from irregular heartbeat or fluid buildup in the lungs. Requires immediate, specialized treatment.

Sources: South Coast Air Quality Management District; Honeywell International Inc., U.S. Chemical Safety Board