latest news: in California, United States
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Councilman’s Initiative Targets Mobil’s Use of Hydrofluoric Acid
Los Angeles County election officials formally certified Wednesday that Torrance City Councilman Dan Walker’s initiative to curb the use of hydrofluoric acid at the Mobil Oil refinery has qualified for the ballot. Torrance City Clerk John Bramhall said he was notified by the county registrar-recorder’s office that a random sample of 500 signatures on Walker’s […]
United States, California Oil Refineries -
Refineries Lack Means to Handle Hydrofluoric Acid, Report Says
Powerine Oil Co.’s refinery in Santa Fe Springs does not have special equipment to handle a leak of highly corrosive hydrofluoric acid, according to a report presented Friday to the board of the South Coast Air Quality Management District. And, based on information contained in the report, the special water spray safety systems at another […]
United States, California Oil Refineries -
Acid Peril: No Clear Answer in Mobil Study
Safety officials say the most troubling issue at Mobil’s Torrance refinery is the use of hydrofluoric acid. It’s a chemical so toxic that the federal government labels it “acutely hazardous.” It is so dangerous that exposure to concentrations as low as 50 parts per million for 30 minutes can be fatal. A safety study on […]
United States, California Oil Refineries -
Experts Warn of Lethal Risk Posed by Acid in L.A. Refineries
An environmentalist and a research scientist told a legislative hearing Wednesday that use of acutely toxic hydrofluoric acid at Los Angeles-area oil refineries poses a potentially deadly threat to nearby residents. “Most of us live in blissful ignorance of the kind of hazards we are exposed to,” said Fred Millar of the Environmental Policy Institute, […]
United States, California Oil Refineries -
Mobil Refinery Study Fails to Address Key Risk Issue
Torrance City Council members expressed surprise Tuesday that an $88,000 study on safety of the Mobil Oil refinery will not answer their key question: What is the risk of the plant continuing to use hydrofluoric acid — an acutely toxic chemical — in the refining process. “That was the most important aspect of the whole […]
United States, California Oil Refineries -
Change of Acid at Refinery Could Reduce Risk, Report Says
Use of sulfuric acid instead of hydrofluoric acid at the Mobil Oil Corp. refinery in Torrance could pose less danger to area residents in the event of an accident, according to a preliminary report prepared by the Torrance city staff. But it also would mean a substantial increase in truck traffic and hazardous-waste disposal problems, […]
United States, California Oil Refineries -
L.A. Refinery Blast Sparks Warning on Possibility of Poisonous Gas Release
Citing a November explosion at the Mobil Oil Corp. refinery in Torrance, South Coast Air Quality Management District officials have warned that the possibility exists for a “significant release” of hydrogen fluoride gas at facilities that use the chemical. An AQMD staff report obtained Monday calls for creation of a “high-level, multiagency” task force that […]
United States, California Oil Refineries -
Alert Sounded on Potentially Lethal Refinery Chemical
Fifty-eight U.S. oil refineries, including three in the Los Angeles area, are using a potentially lethal chemical that could result in a Bhopal-like disaster threatening as many as 12 million people across the country, a Washington-based environmental group has warned. Fred Millar of the Environmental Policy Institute issued the warning three years after the Bhopal […]
United States, California Oil Refineries -
Fluoride Kills Ponderosa Pines
LAKE ARROWHEAD – The majestic pines have made the Lake Arrowhead region one of California’s favorite playlands. Today, the familiar sound of the wind whistling through the primeval forests is being replaced with shattering echoes of chain saws cutting up timber from over a thousand acres of damaged trees. Lake Arrowhead is big ecological news. […]
United States, California Steel Industry