It’s been eight years since a massive explosion at the Torrance Refinery shook the South Bay — with the blast registering as a small earthquake, leaving four workers injured and coating the area in ash.
Since then, the Torrance Refinery has switched hands, from ExxonMobil — which owned the facility during the 2015 explosion — to PBF Energy currently. And officials from refineries across Los Angeles County, particularly in the South Bay, have touted efforts to reduce pollutants and prevent similar crises from occuring.
Officials with the Torrance and Wilmington refineries, meanwhile, have also repeatedly argued that a modified form of hydrofluoric acid, an important-but-combustible — and highly toxic — component in refining crude oil, is the safest compound available. Those refineries — operated by PBF and Valero, respectively — are the only two in the South Bay that still use the chemical in the oil alkylation process.
But that hasn’t stopped local advocates from calling for a ban on modified hydrofluoric acid, or MHF.
They did so again on Friday, Feb. 17, with the Torrance Refinery Action Alliance and a handful of elected officials renewing those calls for a ban during an event commemorating the eighth anniversary of the explosion.
“We need to continue to highlight the dangers of modified hydrochloric acid — we know that (it) is deadly, we know it’s toxic and corrosive,” Rep. Nanette Diaz Barragán said during the event at Cal State Dominguez Hills. “I wanted to be here today because I wanted to make sure that you knew that I stand with you and I’m going to advocate until we make the community safer and until we phase out (M)HF.”
While Valero officials did not respond to requests for comment on Friday, PBF Energy, in a statement, argued that MHF doesn’t pose a widespread public health or safety threat to the community.
“The Torrance Refinery,” PBF spokesperson Barbara Graham said in an email, “has been safely and…
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