Fluoride Action Network

Activists call for state investigation into use of toxic chemical at two South Bay refineries

Source: Daily Breeze | February 14th, 2020 | By Nick Green
Industry type: Oil Refineries

Torrance activists seeking to ban a highly-toxic chemical from two South Bay refineries will announce Saturday, Feb. 15, a “call to action” in an effort to pressure the state to investigate what the legal analyses used to justify its continued use.

The announcement — which the Torrance Refinery Action Alliance is scheduled to make during a 9 a.m. press conference — will come days before the fifth anniversary of an explosion at the Torrance Refinery, then owned by ExxonMobil, which injured four contract employees and, federal officials have said, almost caused a disastrous accidental release of modified hydrofluoric acid.

PBF Energy, which now owns the refinery, has long defended using the modified version of hydrofluoric acid, as officials did in a statement Friday afternoon, and have pointed out that the refinery has never had an offsite release of either modified hydrofluoric acid or the modified version since it opened in 1966.

Officials for the South Coast Air Quality Management District, the regional pollution watchdog, did not return requests for comment.