Redondo Beach to support MHF refinery ban
PBF Energy representative Michael Karlovich testifies before the Redondo Beach City Council as an activist waves a sign behind him. Photo The Redondo Beach City Council voted unanimously Tuesday night to support a ban on the use of a controversial catalyst in the Torrance Refining Company’s gasoline production process. The Los Angeles Count Board of Supervisors has also called for a ban of Modified Hydrofluoric Acid (MHF), a chemical used as an alkalizing agent in oil refining. “Even with all the knowledge I have about how oil refiners work, it’s not as helpful as you would think it is, talking about safety,” said Mayor Bill Brand, a trained chemical engineer with a background in refineries. “As an elected official, you look at situations knowing that any oil refinery is a bomb waiting to blow up.” MHF became a significant topic of discussion in the days and weeks following the Feb. 2015 explosion, caused in part by aging equipment, at what was then the ExxonMobil Torrance Refinery. The U.S. Chemical Safety and Hazard Investigation Board described the incident as causing a “near miss” event, in which debris from the explosion missed tanks holding MHF by a matter of feet…
Read this story on easyreadernews.com