Smog District May Move to Close Refinery

The South Coast Air Quality Management District accused Mobil Oil Corp. Wednesday of emitting more than 1 million pounds of health-threatening air pollutants at its Torrance refinery over more than a year and said it will move next week to close the plant.

The AQMD charged that Mobil knowingly and illegally emitted particulates exceeding allowable limits by as much as 600% while concealing information that would have alerted the district to the extent of the problem.

Particulates are microscopic particles that can bypass the human body’s defenses and cause respiratory problems. They also absorb sunlight and thus contribute to smog.

“We think (the refinery) has impacted the health of millions of residents,” said Jim Birakos, AQMD deputy executive officer.

A spokeswoman for Mobil Oil said Wednesday that the company plans to purchase anti-pollution equipment at the refinery but that installation would not be completed until the fall. AQMD officials estimated the cost at $5 million.

Birakos said that on Feb. 6 the district will ask its hearing board for an abatement order to immediately close the refinery, which employs 900 workers. The board can rule on the spot or take the matter under submission.

Mobil could challenge such an abatement order in court.

Non-refining operations would not be affected, Birakos said.

Air samples--known as source tests--taken by the district as early as December, 1983, indicated that there were “significant and substantial violations” of air quality regulations. But, AQMD attorney William Freedman said, the district did not realize the extent of the emissions until a Jan. 9 hearing on another matter.

At that hearing, Mobil disclosed that it had been having a continuing problem, dating back to mid-1983, with its precipitator, a device that traps particulates before they can be emitted through the refinery’s smokestacks.

These problems were discussed by Mobil officials in internal memos and at management meetings, but were never mentioned to the AQMD, the agency said.

Carole Edwards, a spokeswoman at Mobil headquarters in Fairfax, Va., said she did not know why the company delayed notifying the board about the illegal emissions.

Despite its allegations that Mobil withheld pertinent information, the AQMD conceded that it had learned independently of a possible problem shortly after the source tests that were conducted in December, 1983. Other tests were made on Aug. 27 and Nov. 27 of 1984.

All three tests showed that the refinery was producing air pollutants exceeding the allowable emission levels by 200% to 600%, Birakos said.

Freedman said it was not until after the second test that the district issued a violation notice.

“I guess the flag wasn’t raised,” Freedman said Wednesday. “There was no reason to suspect an ongoing daily violation. A source test is only good for the period of time the flue gas emissions are tested.”

But Freedman and Birakos said the district did not seek additional information or company records to determine if the source tests represented isolated and temporary problems with the precipitator, or pointed to a significant problem.

Instead, Birakos said, the AQMD attempted to work with Mobil in seeking an engineering solution but delayed an enforcement action that could have closed the refinery.