explosion in torrance today

Do Not Sell or Share My Personal Information, Desperate mountain residents trapped by snow beg for help; We are coming, sheriff says, Hidden, illegal casinos are booming in L.A., with organized crime reaping big profits, Look up: The 32 most spectacular ceilings in Los Angeles, 19 cafes that make L.A. a world-class coffee destination, David Lindley, guitarist best known for work with Jackson Browne, dies at 78, Newsom, IRS give Californians until October to file tax returns, Best coffee city in the world? Bontas office said it hadnt received a letter from the county. Member-Designated Transportation Projects, Fire erupts at Torrance refinery just hours before protest rally, announced safety rally at the refinery PBF had planned to hold for workers as a counterpoint to the demonstration, Manhattan Beach Office (By Appointment Only). Tammy Khan, of the Torrance Unified School District, said the shetler-in-place order was lifted early Wednesday afternoon. Organizers estimated the crowd size at more than 400. We knew we were moving in next to a refinery it was here before we were, Cliff Heise said in an interview. Refinery spokeswoman Betsy Brien said the fire was quickly extinguished and the Del Amo Boulevard barriers were activated to close the road under an abundance of caution.. 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. Alex Wigglesworth is an environment reporter who covers wildfires for the Los Angeles Times. The CSB is an independent, non-regulatory federal agency charged with investigating serious chemical incidents. in communication and M.S. Ryan Zehl is the lawyer responsible for this website. Those safety advances, however, have come since the 2015 explosion and a harsh assessment by federal investigators. 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. The explosion on Feb. 18, 2015, was described by federal regulators as a serious near miss.. The LA County Department of Public Health and former California Attorney General Xavier Becerra followed suit. The rule would have required a gradual phase-out of MHF usage at both refineries, requiring an alternative catalyst, such as sulfuric acid. 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. The shaking was felt primarily in the immediate vicinity of the refinery, according to Caltech. 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. April 8, 2018 / 2:50 PM / KCAL News. The fiercest local opponent of MHF is the Torrance Refinery Action Alliance. But at least for now, environmentalists and the refineries remain entrenched in their positions. The Torrance Fire Department responded to an explosion at the ExxonMobil Torrance Refinery on Feb. 18, 2015. Community members who may have been impacted by the explosion can call the ExxonMobil claims hotline at 844-631-2539. Activists held an event Saturday to mark the fifth anniversary of the explosion at the Exxon Mobil refinery in Torrance that injured four workers. The respective responses were predictable: For years, both sides of this battle have zealously defended their positions. Those improvements were completed in 2021 and are now in service, Lafayette said. There, too, the Torrance refinery has disagreed. 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. 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. The 2015 explosion at the Torrance Refinery was bad, but it easily could have been catastrophic, Hahn said in a press release. It provides 362 jobs around $30 million in wages in Torrance, according to its website. Passing motorists supplied supportive honks. Copyright 2023 CBS Interactive Inc. All rights reserved. There were also questions asking why the emergency refinery sirens did not sound following the accident. Although there are alternative alkylation technologies under development, Lafayette said, they still need to be proven to be safe, mechanically reliable, and commercially viable at the scale of the Torrance Alkylation Unit.. Puedes cambiar tus opciones en cualquier momento haciendo clic en el enlace Panel de control de privacidad de nuestros sitios y aplicaciones. Para obtener ms informacin sobre cmo utilizamos tus datos personales, consulta nuestra Poltica de privacidad y Poltica de cookies. 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. Redondo Beach Local News. 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. Robert Millea said he couldnt immediately confirm whether an explosion actually occurred, only that one was reported. 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 Torrance Refinery Action Alliance plans on Tuesday to deliver a letter from its science advisory panel to Newsoms office urging him to request that Atty. Every one of our lawyers is a Houston personal injury attorney whos undefeated in the courtroom and has recovered some of the largest verdicts and settlements in history. The Torrance refinery, according to its website, has made several improvements, including a leak-detection system, upgraded water monitors, 24/7 automated, continuously monitored unit cameras and an expanded water mitigation system. Torrance firefighters . Hahns February motion also asks the AQMDs refinery committee to provide an update on the status of safety improvements listed in the refineries proffers. The Heises, for their part, are still working to educate residents in Torrance and Wilmington about their MHF concerns and are grateful the issue is still being monitored. The refineries are required to provide quarterly updates to the agency.. The explosion occurred in the refinerys fluid catalytic cracking (FCC) unit, where a variety of products, mainly gasoline, are produced. "Our main concern is for the safety of our employees and our neighbors.". torrance News Caught on video: Car-to-car shooting on 91 Freeway Video shows a shooting between people in two cars traveling on the freeway in the Long Beach area. An ExxonMobil refinery explosion in Torrance injured two, caused a 1.7 magnitude shake and portends pain at the pumps. Having affordable fuel that is readily available is a vital part of the California economy.. The explosion filled surrounding neighborhoods with ash, fiberglass, and glass wool. Anza Avenue had been closed for a few hoursas emergency personnel responded. Its been a few years now, and there has been very little progress.. Get up to speed with our Essential California newsletter, sent six days a week. 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.. If you're interested in joining our team, you can apply for a position here. Hours after an explosion ripped through a Torrance refinery, residents for miles around continue to grapple with ash, a gas odor and concerns over poor air quality while inspectors confirmed that a filtration device was the source of the blast. 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 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. In 2017, the U.S. Chemical Safety and Hazard Investigation Board published a 73-page report on the explosion. My first reaction was, this doesn't sound good, this doesn't look good. In February, a large explosion occurred at ExxonMobil's refinery in Torrance, California. Residents reported shaking normally associated with earthquakes throughout the South Bay area. No injuries were reported, and the fire did not impact anything offsite. Principal Office: Houston Texas. CSB Chairperson Vanessa Allen Sutherland said, This explosion and near miss should not have happened, and likely would not have happened, had a more robust process safety management system been in place. The CSB notes that it is vital to ensure that safety critical equipment can successfully carry out its intended function. The refineries are the only two in the state that use the substance. If that was the case, we wouldnt have seen another explosion today, she added. explosion also launched an 80,000-pound piece of equipment, failure to follow safety guidelines was partly to blame for the blast. April 8, 2018 / 2:50 PM Steve Deuel said. At the center of that debate is the modified part of MHF. Some said they heard one of the workers may have turned on the gas inside one of the apartments before it was completely ready. In July 2016, the Torrance refinery was sold by ExxonMobil to PBF Holdings Company, LLC, which now operates as the Torrance Refining Company. 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. The explosion also launched an 80,000-pound piece of equipment within feet of a structure that housed a highly volatile and toxic substance, modified hydrofluoric acid. A five-story processing unit had burst open, spewing industrial ash over a mile away that some mistook for snow and propelling a 40-ton hunk of equipment into the air. It appeared it was a gas explosion, but a hazardous materials team was on scene Sunday afternoon working to determine exactly what occurred. Si no quieres que nosotros ni nuestros socios utilicemos cookies y datos personales para estos propsitos adicionales, haz clic en Rechazar todo. Four contractors at the plant suffered injuries and required medical treatment and eight workers had to be decontaminated. But at the time, theyd never heard of MHF and didnt think much of it. The crowd gathered at 10 a.m. at Columbia Park on 190th Street, cheering the remarks of Lieu, Assemblyman Al Muratsuchi and other speakers, before marching the short distance to the refinery. Congresswoman Maxine Waters and I requested the U.S. Chemical Safety Board to investigate the explosion two years ago, Lieu said in the statement. Fill Out the Form Below for a Free Case Review with our Undefeated Personal Injury Lawyers. "Emergency procedures have been activated to address the incident, and employees are working with the appropriate agencies," a statement by the ExxonMobil Torrance Refinery said. California workplace regulators fined ExxonMobil more than $500 million for the violations related to the explosion. Cal/OSHA has shut down the fluid catalytic cracker and will only allow operations to resume once it can be exhibited that the unit can operate safely. With the capacity to refine more than 150,000 barrels of gasoline a day, the . This explosion and near miss should not have happened, and likely would not have happened, had a more robust process safety management system been in place, then-CSB Chairwoman Vanessa Allen Sutherland said in a statement at the time. The refinery relied on safeguards that could not be verified, and re-used a previous procedure deviation without a sufficient hazard analysis of the current process conditions. 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. proporcionarte nuestros sitios y aplicaciones; autenticar usuarios, aplicar medidas de seguridad y evitar el spam y los abusos, y. medir el uso que haces de nuestros sitios y aplicaciones. U.S. Chemical Safety Board. Kim Baldonado, Patrick Healy, Jason Kandel, and Tena Ezzeddine contributed to this report. And then the people who were right by just felt a shake, like an earthquake.. A Philadelphia native, she graduated from the University of Pennsylvania with a degree in medical anthropology and global health. Im absolutely appalled, said Torrance teacher Julie Stoll, referring to the lack of support from Torrance officials. 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. 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. Eight workers were decontaminated at the scene. North Torrance resident Daphne Wong, her husband, Eng, and their three children, ages 5 to 9, all walked to the refinery together despite the rain. 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. Had the tank ruptured, it would have caused a release of MHF, which is highly toxic. Many in the neighborhood reported being startled by a large blast. 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. God may not warn us again.. ExxonMobil said in a statement early Wednesday afternoon that "no harmful emissions have been detected.". Please look at the time stamp on the story to see when it was last updated. No further details were immediately available. When you think about it, she said, it makes you not want to sleep at night.. Copyright 2023 KABC Television, LLC. TORRANCE TODAY - FEBRUARY 16, 2023 - City of Torrance TorranceCitiCABLE 4.15K subscribers 113 views 1 day ago #184 1. The motion also instructs county departments to review existing health and safety measures related to MHF including emergency precautions in case of an accidental leak. "I kind of figured we had an earthquake, then I realized, living by the factory for all those years, they had a problem with the factory.". Caltech officials said the explosion created ground shaking that was equivalent to a magnitude-1.7 earthquake. 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.. 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.. The additive does this by ensuring the chemical used as a liquid during refining doesnt turn into a gas. This material may not be published, broadcast, rewritten, or redistributed. Were also the only law firm in the country thats currently representing over 65 of the workers who were injured in the Williams Geismar explosion, as well as 3 of the 4 workers who were tragically killed in the October 2015 Williams explosion in Gibson, Louisiana. The cause of the explosion is under investigation. But in the years since the 2015 explosion, residents have continued decrying MHF. 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. Fire crews knocked down the blaze within 30 minutes. 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. Four apartments have been damaged, two of which sustained "significant damage.". On Saturday, the Torrance Refinery Action Alliance announced a campaign urging Gov. Other than the affected crude unit, the refinery continues to operate, Brien said. However, our staff is working remotely and can assist you via phone or email. 2018 CBS Broadcasting Inc. All Rights Reserved. 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 Supervisor knew the proffers were toothless, Odendahl said. In September, the South Coast Air Quality Management District governing board voted instead to accept a voluntary oil industry pledge to enhance safety measures. The couple was taking a stroll outside of North High Schools football field on the day of the 2015 explosion. A smoke advisory was issued for areas near the ExxonMobil refinery due to Wednesday morning's explosion and fire. After protests and intensified public pressure from such activists as the Heises mounted in 2017, the AQMDs Proposed Rule 1410 became a key focus of the agencys Governing Board. We need to ban MHF as soon as possible. Cuando utilizas nuestros sitios y aplicaciones, usamos. I wish the Torrance City Council had the courage to say that.. The machines are responsible for reducing ammonia and particulate emissions in a plant to comply with environmental regulations. The Oscars will air on ABC and can be streamed on ABC.com and the ABC app as well as Hulu + Live TV, YouTube TV, AT&T TV or FuboTV. 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.

Dalyellup Medical Centre, After School Programs Columbus Ohio, Articles E