Meantime, the Torrance Refining Company hosted a safety rally for employees. Zehl & Associates is always looking for smart, hardworking and talented personal injury attorneys and staff to join our team. The explosion sent ash raining down on. The refineries arent going to eat that cost, William Burke, former chairman of the SCAQMDs governing board said in a previous interview. They have lived in a neighborhood directly adjacent to the Torrance refinery for 48 years. Gavin Newsom and Attorney General Rob Bontas offices to take all possible actions to require refineries in California to convert from MHF to safer alternatives.. in journalism from the University of Southern California. Get browser notifications for breaking news, live events, and exclusive reporting. Four people were injured in an explosion at an apartment building in Torrance Sunday afternoon, officials said. There was no sign of an announced safety rally at the refinery PBF had planned to hold for workers as a counterpoint to the demonstration so they could reflect upon the (2015) incident.. An explosion at the ExxonMobil Refinery in Torrance today sent a plume of black smoke in the air and caused ash to cascade down on the area, but there were only two minor injuries. TORRANCE (CBSLA) Firefighters say four people have been injured in a reported explosion at an apartment complex in Torrance. Thousands of people could have been harmed if the MHF had dispersed beyond the Torrance refinery in 2015, the CSB report said. Three dozen firefighters knocked down the blaze within a half-hour. Three dozen firefighters knocked down the blaze within a half-hour. Passing motorists supplied supportive honks. The cause of the explosion was not known. Investigators are trying to determine what caused the explosion at a Torrance oil refinery that sent four workers to the hospital. The refinery, where about 155,000 barrels of crude oil are processed each day, has been part of the South Bay landscape since the 1920s. Si no quieres que nosotros ni nuestros socios utilicemos cookies y datos personales para estos propsitos adicionales, haz clic en Rechazar todo. All Rights Reserved. More than a day after the accident, no representative from ExxonMobil had directly contacted the Torrance fire chief and city officials still did not know what was in the substances that were released into the surrounding areas. Explosion reported in Torrance Fire department vehicles will patrol Los Angeles with vehicles and helicopters to identify the damage or emergency needs, it was reported. Tammy Khan, of the Torrance Unified School District, said the shetler-in-place order was lifted early Wednesday afternoon. Had we known then what we know now, Cliff Heise said, we wouldve run, not walked home.. Environmentalists and concerned residents say MHF could prove catastrophic if the chemical were to escape, pointing to its corrosivity and studies that show its ability to travel beyond a refinerys footprint. Residents reported shaking normally associated with earthquakes throughout the South Bay area. Various elected officials have periodically attempted to rein in its use at the Torrance refinery and another in Wilmington, the only two in the state that use the chemical. Caltech officials said the explosion created ground shaking that was equivalent to a magnitude-1.7 earthquake. All communications are private and confidential. Zehl & Associates Injury & Accident Lawyers is a Houston Personal Injury Law Firm that represents accident victims across Texas, Louisiana and the United States. The four victims were found suffering varying degrees on injuries. The machines are responsible for reducing ammonia and particulate emissions in a plant to comply with environmental regulations. No further details were immediately available. No injuries were reported, and the fire did not impact anything offsite. Cliff and Donna Heise, for example, serve as secretary and treasurer of the TRAA, respectively. It appeared it was a gas explosion, but a hazardous materials team was on scene Sunday afternoon working to determine exactly what occurred. For a while, though, flames shot 40 feet into the air. Those improvements were completed in 2021 and are now in service, Lafayette said. Torrance Refinery on April 22 reported an unplanned flaring event, induced by damaged equipment, that sent an additional 765 pounds of SOx and 143 pounds of volatile organic compounds into the. CSB investigations look into all aspects of chemical accidents, including physical causes such as equipment failure as well as inadequacies in regulations, industry standards, and safety management systems. The rule would have required a gradual phase-out of MHF usage at both refineries, requiring an alternative catalyst, such as sulfuric acid. The explosion, which happened . Four were taken to hospitals. First thing I thought was to call my wife, my kids, and let them know I'm safe.". My first reaction was, this doesn't sound good, this doesn't look good. "I just appreciate that I'm here. Other than the affected crude unit, the refinery continues to operate, Brien said. Officials were investigating the cause of the over-pressurization. There, too, the Torrance refinery has disagreed. A group of activists on Saturday marked the fifth anniversary of an explosion at the Exxon Mobil refinery in Torrance that injured four workers and prompted continuing concerns about the. The investigation of the Torrance explosion by the U.S. Chemical Safety Board revealed that a piece of equipment nearly crashed into a tank holding tens of thousands of pounds of modified hydrofluoric acid a highly toxic chemical used to make high-octane gasoline. Other groups including the refinerys unions and local businesses feared the potential economic fallout if the refineries were forced to transition to a safer alternative. in communication and M.S. We cant assume we will be so lucky next time, whether that is another refinery accident, an earthquake, or God-forbid, an attack., The passage of the Supervisors motion is disappointing, she said in an email, because many of the points they make are both misleading and the projects are already in place, following agreements with several government agencies to install additional safety measures.. Finally, the slide valve - a safety-critical safeguard within the system - was degraded significantly. If you're interested in joining our team, you can apply for a position here. Both the PBF and Valero refineries are situated in densely populated areas of the South Bay: About 245,000 people live within three miles of the Torrance refinery and another 153,000 live within that same distance of Valeros refinery, AQMD said. A group of activists on Saturday marked the fifth anniversary of an explosion at the Exxon Mobil refinery in Torrance that injured four workers and prompted continuing concerns about the potential for an even more catastrophic incident and the release of toxic chemicals and fumes into local communities. Officials were not aware of their exact conditions, but witnesses said some were seriously hurt. Kristy Hutchings covers all things Long Beach including local government, politics, and the environment. Instead, if a leak occurred, a ground-hugging liquid cloud would form, according to a 2018 report from the Torrance refinery defending its use of the chemical. Really? read one of the signs carried by chanting marchers who endured a steady downpour to protest the use of toxic hydrofluoric acid at the refinery. The shaking was felt primarily in the immediate vicinity of the refinery, according to Caltech. And those who run the Torrance facility also say its refinery hasnt experienced an off-site leak of either HF or MHF since it opened in 1966. The respective responses were predictable: For years, both sides of this battle have zealously defended their positions. TORRANCE, CALIFORNIA Just before 9 a.m. on February 18, the ExxonMobil refinery in Torrance, California exploded, shaking the surrounding community with the force of a 1.7 magnitude earthquake, and sending a quarter ton of sulfur oxide gas into the atmosphere. But HF is highly corrosive, posing a threat to nearby communities if it were dispersed as a gas during a fire, explosion or the like. Electrostatic precipitators are large machines that stand12 stories high and weigh more than 1,000 tons. The blast caused serious property damage to the refinery and scattered catalyst dust up to a mile away from the facility into the nearby community. The cause of the fire, which Millea said burned an unspecified amount of crude oil, is under scrutiny by investigators from Cal-OSHA, the states worker safety agency, while a county hazardous materials team also was on the scene. Gen. Xavier Becerras office investigate how the Torrance and Wilmington refineries are able to legally operate using hydrofluoric acid. A buildup of natural gas caused the explosion that leveled a Torrance home, damaged scores of others and rained glass, stucco and other debris over a two-block area, investigators said. Weve won over $1 Billion for our clients, recovered some of the largest verdicts and settlement in history, and obtained record-setting victories against the biggest trucking, oil and gas, maritime and petrochemical companies in the world. The cause of the explosion is under investigation. Three were treated and released. Its been a few years now, and there has been very little progress.. The explosion on Feb. 18, 2015, was described by federal regulators as a serious near miss.. In 2004, the South Coast Air Quality Management District said much the same in an environmental analysis the agency did when Valero introduced MHF at its Wilmington refinery. On Saturday, the Torrance Refinery Action Alliance announced a campaign urging Gov. The explosion occurred in the refinerys fluid catalytic cracking (FCC) unit, where a variety of products, mainly gasoline, are produced. Inside the refinery, the explosion blew off parts of an electrostatic precipitator and damaged other equipment at the plant. TORRANCE An explosion and fire in a gasoline processing unit rocked the ExxonMobil refinery in Torrance today, injuring three workers and sending flames and ash into the sky. Hahns February motion also asks the AQMDs refinery committee to provide an update on the status of safety improvements listed in the refineries proffers. In February, a large explosion occurred at ExxonMobils refinery in Torrance, California. Para obtener ms informacin sobre cmo utilizamos tus datos personales, consulta nuestra Poltica de privacidad y Poltica de cookies. Torrance fire Capt. Cuando utilizas nuestros sitios y aplicaciones, usamos. Some said they heard one of the workers may have turned on the gas inside one of the apartments before it was completely ready. 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County, Over $38M stolen from low-income SoCal families, Newport Beach home dangling after cliffside collapse, High-speed rail from L.A. to Vegas: What we know, Do Not Sell or Share My Personal Information. / KCAL News. People, Donna Heise said, are becoming more aware if nothing else over the last seven years.. The remainder of the FCC unit is comprised of a portion of the reaction process and a series of pollution control equipment that uses air and is known as the air side of the unit. The proposal had plenty of support: Reps. Nanette Barragan, Ted Lieu and Maxine Waters wrote letters urging the AQMD to pass the rule and phase MHF out of Southern California. U.S. Chemical Safety Board. But at the time, theyd never heard of MHF and didnt think much of it. That update was completed last year as well. The building has been undergoing renovations for some time, and the victims are believed to be remodelers working in one of the involved units, neighbors said. April 8, 2018 / 2:50 PM / KCAL News. explosion also launched an 80,000-pound piece of equipment, failure to follow safety guidelines was partly to blame for the blast. He said the blast happened in a processing facility and the material involved was gasoline. Some community members do not believe that the company did not enough to respond to the emergency. The incident caused the refinery to be run at limited capacity for over a year, raising gas prices in California and costing drivers in the state an estimated $2.4 billion. A Philadelphia native, she graduated from the University of Pennsylvania with a degree in medical anthropology and global health. Refineries are not supposed to have explosions. The Torrance Fire Department responded to an explosion at the ExxonMobil Torrance Refinery on Feb. 18, 2015. We knew we were moving in next to a refinery it was here before we were, Cliff Heise said in an interview. The governors office confirmed they received the request, but declined further comment. God may not warn us again.. There was also minor damage to two adjoining apartments, according to Millea. Flares from the stack, part of a safety relief valve system, are part of normal operations that occasionally produce a rumbling sound, like distant thunder, caused by turbulent mixing of vapors. Three of them were taken to a nearby hospital, authorities said, after earlier indicating all four had been transported. Bontas office said it hadnt received a letter from the county. Minor injuries were reported after the explosion ripped apart structures at the oil refinery and shook homes for miles around the blast site in southern Los Angeles County. Manhattan Beach, CA crime, fire and public safety news and events, police & fire department updates Those safety enhancements, Lafayette said, include installing a new protective steel structure, water mitigation dome and curtain, an enhanced HF/MHF detection system, and additional water mitigation monitors. On a day when activists marked the two-year anniversary of an explosion that rocked the then-ExxonMobil refinery and showered neighborhoods with industrial debris, another fire erupted at the troubled Torrance plant early Saturday. That, the report said, would prevent the chemical from dispersing as widely as it would as an aerosol. It provides 362 jobs around $30 million in wages in Torrance, according to its website. (Credit: KTLA) The blast at the refinery, which is located in the 3700 block of West . The couple was taking a stroll outside of North High Schools football field on the day of the 2015 explosion. Explosion Rocks ExxonMobil Refinery in Torrance, California. At least 12 dead after winter storm slams South, Midwest, The Saturday Six: Dental device controversy, scientist's bug find and more, Trump speaks at CPAC after winning straw poll, 3 children killed, 2 others wounded at Texas home, Man charged for alleged involvement in 2 transformer explosions, Nikki Haley slams potential GOP contenders, and Trump and George W. Bush, Duo of 81-year-old women plan to see the world in 80 days, Memphis Grizzlies star Ja Morant to "take some time away" from the team after allegedly brandishing a gun in a club, Alex Murdaugh trial: What to know about the double murder case. Authorities said the incident happened around 6 a.m. and 36 firefighters responded to the refinery. By then, the husband said, theyd been living in the city long enough to know exactly what the sound was. May 3, 2017, Torrance, CA, -- Today, the U.S. Chemical Safety Board (CSB) released its final report into the February 18, 2015, explosion at the ExxonMobil refinery in Torrance, California. TORRANCE, Calif. (KABC) -- The Torrance Police Department issued an alert for the city, notifying them that the Torrance ExxonMobil Refinery had an explosion and fire early Saturday morning. You may occasionally receive promotional content from the Los Angeles Times. If your child will play baseball or softball this spring, youll need to stock up on appropriate clothing and equipment. A Redondo Beach resident told NBC4 windows rattled at his house, about five miles from the refinery. 46,739 visits in the last 30 days. Kim Baldonado, Patrick Healy, Jason Kandel, and Tena Ezzeddine contributed to this report. 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The incident was reported around 1:15 p.m. on the 23500 block of Anza Avenue, just north of the Pacific Coast Highway, Assistant Torrance Fire Chief Robert Millea said. The fire was reported to the South Coast Air Quality Management District and California Office of Emergency Services, police said. CSB Releases Final Report into 2015 Explosion at ExxonMobil Refinery in Torrance, California, Drivers of Critical Chemical Safety Change, Process Safety Management for the 21st Century, Emergency Planning and Response (Preparedness), Website design & development by Americaneagle.com. Those calls for a ban remain. The incident was reported around 1:15 p.m. on the 23500 block of Anza Avenue, just . The additive does this by ensuring the chemical used as a liquid during refining doesnt turn into a gas. As a result, unraveling the debates complexities remains challenging. 6 Min Read. Valero, owner of the Wilmington refinery, did not respond to multiple requests for comment. The work of the Safety Auditor was overseen by a Los Angeles Superior Court judge and approved prior to use of MHF at the refinery.. "You could feel it," said refinery worker Jason Hernandez. Thick smoke rose from a mangled, multiple-story portion of the Torrance ExxonMobil Refinery, located south of the 405 Freeway, after the 8:50 a.m. blast. But the proposed ban on MHF is far from the first cost passed onto consumers: The 2015 explosion, according to the CSB, caused the refinery to run at limited capacity for more than a year and raised gas prices in California costing drivers in the state an estimated $2.4 billion. Investigators were trying to determine the cause of the blast, which occurred shortly before 9 a.m. PST . The blast caused serious property damage to the refinery and scattered catalyst dust up to a mile away from the facility into the nearby community. First published on April 8, 2018 / 2:50 PM. The fire, possibly triggered by an explosion that has not yet been confirmed, was reported at 6 a.m. Saturday in the plant's crude oil unit, said Torrance Assistant Fire Chief Steve Treskes. The AQMDs own reports warned that the ability of MHF to prevent formation of a vapor/aerosol cloud is highly uncertain and that a release of MHF will result in exposure to HF with the same health effects.. Here's your go-to source for today's LA news. Liz Odendahl, Hahns spokeswoman, said in an interview that the supervisor was furious at the AQMDs decision to accept the refineries proffers. In its final report, the CSB describes multiple gaps in the refinerys process safety management system, allowing for the operation of the FCC unit without pre-established safe operating limits and criteria for a shut down. Having affordable fuel that is readily available is a vital part of the California economy.. That failure ultimately allowed hydrocarbons to flow into the air side of the FCC, where they ignited in a piece of equipment called the electrostatic precipitator, or ESP, causing an explosion of the ESP. There was a "large fire explosion" at the ExxonMobil Torrance Refinery in Southern California on Wednesday morning, according to the Torrance Police Department. The refinery previously said that the citys Fire Department has the sole responsibility to decide what tools to use, when to use them, and what area within the community to notify. At the bottom of a public notice explaining the Torrance Community Warning System, however, ExxonMobil has the ability to initiate the use of the Community Alert Sirens and Crenshaw Street Barriers if an incident at the refinery warrants immediate community notification., The Senate Energy, Utilities and Communications Committee and the Environmental Quality Committee has planned a joint hearing to address the emergency response in the Torrance refinery explosion. U.S. Rep. Ted Lieu said in a statement Saturday that he plans to ask the U.S. Chemical Safety Board to include Saturdays incident as part of an ongoing investigation into the problems at the trouble-plagued refinery that began two years ago. Copyright 2023 KABC Television, LLC. The decision by the board came one week after the two refineries sent letters offering to install improved safety systems in the coming years if regulators ended their pursuit of new rules for the chemical. Puedes cambiar tus opciones en cualquier momento haciendo clic en el enlace Panel de control de privacidad de nuestros sitios y aplicaciones. Many in the neighborhood reported being startled by a large blast. California Occupational Safety and Health officials were at the site investigating. A powerful blast at an ExxonMobil oil refinery rocked Torrance, California, on Wednesday. Hire a Houston personal injury lawyer with a proven track record. Get Los Angeles's latest local news on crime, entertainment, weather, schools, COVID, cost of living and more. ExxonMobil was fined more than $500 million for workplace violations related to the blast. Gavin Newsom to call for an investigation into the use of modified hydrofluoric acid at the facility, now operated by Torrance Refining Co., as well as by Valeros Wilmington refinery. With the capacity to refine more than 150,000 barrels of gasoline a day, the . In working with inherently dangerous products, it is critical to conduct a robust risk management analysis with the intent of continually safety improvement.. April 8, 2018 / 2:50 PM Times staff writer Tony Barboza contributed to this report. All safety systems at the refinery operated correctly and personnel were safe, police said. PBF also reached a separate agreement with the U.S. Environmental Protection Agency to upgrade an additional water monitor in 2020, according to Lafayette. A blast was reported at the ExxonMobil refinery in Torrance, California. Unfortunately, ExxonMobil, the owner-operator of the refinery at the time of the accident, did not respond to the CSBs requests for information detailing safeguards to prevent or mitigate a release of MHF, and therefore the agency was unable to fully explore this topic in its final report. "I was having my cup of coffee and all of the sudden the whole house shook, the windows vibrated," said Torrance resident John White. The large turnout surprised even the diverse group of participants unaccustomed to seeing such political activism in a conservative community. Several contractors were injured in the Feb. 18, 2015, blast that shut down the refinery for more than a year, leading to soaring gas prices in Southern California. Notably absent from the event was any sign of Torrance elected officials, although police officers in several patrol cars discreetly kept their eye on the peaceful protesters from a distance. The SCAQMD didnt comment on Hahns request for the organization to reexamine the viability of alternative technologies to MHF, some of which may be more commercially available than they were at the time of the vote. The motion the LA County Board of Supervisors unanimously passed in mid-February asks Gov. Copyright 2023 NBCUniversal Media, LLC. All rights reserved. Redondo Beach Local News. Several residents noticed what they described as a larger-than-usual flame from the plant's towering flare stack. We are very proud of the many technical advances we have added to our Alkylation Unit over the years, the refinery says on its website, which is additional proof of our continuing commitment to safe, reliable operations.. Refinery officials, though, say MHF was specifically designed to be safer than its non-modified original hydrofluoric acid and has been reviewed by experts and deemed the best catalyst for the refining process. When released, the chemical can form a deadly, ground-hugging cloud that, in the event of a major leak, could have caused serious injury or death to many community members, according to the agency. If you or a loved one were injured or burned in a plant or refinery fire, contact ourplant and refinery accident attorneysfor a free consultation at 1-888-603-3636 or by Clicking Here. For more than seven years, members of small, local activist groups have been irresponsibly making claims against the Refinerys use of MHF, without any basis in fact, Lafayette wrote recently. PUBLISHED: February 18, 2023 at 8:00 a.m. | UPDATED: February 18, 2023 at 8:01 a.m. It's been eight years since a massive explosion at the Torrance Refinery shook the South Bay with the blast. The refineries are required to provide quarterly updates to the agency.. Four apartments have been damaged, two of which sustained "significant damage.". But at least for now, environmentalists and the refineries remain entrenched in their positions. The 2015 explosion at the Torrance Refinery was bad, but it easily could have been catastrophic, Hahn said in a press release. The LA County Department of Public Health and former California Attorney General Xavier Becerra followed suit. We need to ban MHF as soon as possible.
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