Two years after an explosion at a Los Angeles-area oil refinery injured four workers — and just days after a fire at the same facility — local fire officials reportedly plan to endorse its continued use of a potentially deadly chemical.
Public radio station KPCC-FM reports that the Torrance Fire Department intends to address a public meeting to demonstrate the safety systems designed to contain potential spills of modified hydrofluoric acid.
The substance, abbreviated as MHF, is used as a catalyst at Torrance and another refinery in nearby Wilmington, but regulators and ExxonMobil — which owned the Torrance facility at the time of the February 2015 explosion — said that if spilled, it could potentially form a toxic vapor cloud that could travel long distances.
Debris from the 2015 blast, KPCC noted, narrowly missed an MHF holding tank, but fire officials told the station that systems are in place to prevent chemical spills from escaping.
Executives from Torrance Refinery, which is now owned by PBF Energy, are also expected to address the public meeting after local residents raised concerns about the refinery's safety risks.
Regional air quality regulators, meanwhile, are considering banning the chemical, and state Rep. Al Muratsuchi, who represents Torrance, introduced legislation to halt the use of MHF at refineries.
“This weekend’s fire at the refinery, on the two year anniversary of the explosion that rocked our community, is a stark reminder of the work we have to do to make the refinery safer,” Muratsuchi said in a statement.
