U.S. Probers Join in Mobil Investigation

A second criminal investigation into whether Mobil Oil Corp. violated clean air laws last year at its Torrance refinery has been opened, this time by the U.S. attorney’s office, it was learned Monday.

The federal inquiry comes on the heels of an announcement last week by the Los Angeles County district attorney’s office that its investigators had entered the Mobil plant with a search warrant and confiscated seven cartons of documents. The district attorney’s office is conducting a separate investigation into possible criminal conspiracy by the company to violate South Coast Air Quality Management District rules and regulations.

Potential Violations

Assistant U.S. Atty. Janet Goldstein, who is in charge of the federal investigation, said that potential violations of the federal Clean Air Act and other federal statutes are being examined. She would not elaborate.

Late last year, the Air Quality Management District charged that Mobil had knowingly violated local air quality rules for at least a year by continuing to refine oil even though the company knew that a key anti-pollution device was not operating properly. Mobil later shut down part of the refinery for about a month to make temporary repairs. A new device is to be installed this fall at a cost of $5 million, Mobil said.

Mobil has said it was aware there was a problem with the pollution-control device, but thought it was still in compliance with local and federal air quality laws. It claimed that emission tests made by the Air Quality Management District were inaccurate.

Mobil spokesman Tom Collins said during a telephone interview from Fairfax, Va., that it was his understanding that some Mobil contractors had been directed by the U.S. Attorney to provide information.

“They haven’t asked us (directly) for any information yet,” Collins added.

“In this investigation, like the other investigations by the South Coast Air Quality Management District and the Los Angeles County district attorney’s office, we’re more than happy to comply with any requests for information and we’re happy to have the full facts of this episode be known. We have absolutely nothing to hide,” Collins said.