Modified hydrofluoric acid (MHF) is a highly toxic chemical used in the alkylation units at only two California refineries, ExxonMobil in Torrance and Valero in Wilmington. Should a plume (gas cloud) of MHF be released in an industrial accident, the result could be extremely dangerous to hundreds of thousands of people living within several miles of the refinery. In 2015, the South Bay narrowly avoided such an incident, as an accident at the Torrance refinery came close to puncturing an MHF tank or breaking pipes.

Following that incident, a group of South Bay citizens formed the Torrance Refinery Action Alliance (TRAA). Their mission is to see that toxic MHF is replaced with a safer alternative at both refineries.



TRAA has recently sought to recruit partners in Wilmington and surrounding communities. Last year they organized Wilmington and Torrance residents in a protest, and this month they conducted a community forum at the Wilmington Library.

This Saturday, September 22nd, the TRAA will hold an informational demonstration at a committee meeting of the South Coast Air Quality Management District (SCAQMD). The event will take place at the Wilmington Middle School auditorium starting at 9 a.m., and will focus on the issue of MHF safety and regulation. Public comments will be allowed.



The Wilmington Wire interviewed Dr. Sally Hayati, President of the TRAA and a computer scientist who is retired from the Aerospace Corporation in El Segundo, to discuss the hazards of MHF and why she thinks local communities must work together to have it banned. (The interview has been updated from a previous version and condensed.)



WW: Don’t oil refineries manufacture several toxic chemicals? Why should people be worried about modified hydrofluoric acid, specifically?



Dr. Hayati: Yes, refineries use and produce a litany of toxic chemicals, but MHF is uniquely dangerous to the community. HF alkylation units [used to produce gasoline components] have been identified as the most likely cause of a catastrophic accident in the US by several sources, including the US Environmental Protection Agency (EPA) and the US Chemical Safety Board (CSB). Hydrofluoric acid (HF) is notoriously similar to another toxic, volatile chemical that killed 25,000 and permanently maimed 500,000 people during the world’s worst industrial accident in Bhopal, India, in 1984.

The risks are greater here than in other states due to the likelihood of large earthquakes and terrorist attacks. The consequences are also greater due to our high population density that makes large-scale evacuation impossible and puts more people at risk.

A study by eight South Bay scientists and engineers, including myself, has shown that modified HF (MHF), used in California, is just as deadly as HF. Investigations by experts at 3 government agencies (US CSB, US EPA, and SCAQMD) have been consistent with that conclusion. MHF alkylation threatens more lives in a single incident than any other industrial process in California.

WW: Have there ever been incidents of HF/MHF being accidentally released?



Dr Hayati: Yes, there have been many incidents of accidental release of HF and MHF, for which the processes, temperatures, pressures, units, and hazards are virtually identical.

There have been at least three very significant HF releases that would have been disastrous if they happened here — two in Texas in 1987 and 2009, and one in South Korea in 2012. Torrance has had three very dangerous near misses that we know of: 1987, 1994, and 2015. Torrance had a fairly large release in 2004 and Valero had one even larger in 1987.

Most accidental HF releases don’t make it into the press unless accompanied by fire or explosion.

WW: Don’t refineries have safety mechanisms to prevent the accidental release of MHF?



Dr. Hayati: Sure, but safety mechanisms often fail. The chemical that killed tens of thousands in Bhopal was buried underground in a fortified concrete bunker that was vented to a scrubber to neutralize any escaping poison. The remaining exhaust was then sent to a flare to burn off any remaining toxic material. These measures were viewed as failsafe but every one of these safety measures failed on the day of the 1984 disaster.



The story of the Deep Horizon oil rig disaster in Louisiana is similar. As one survivor said, “All the things they told us would never happen, happened. Men died.”

A refinery is a very complex and inherently dangerous environment in which to use hundreds of thousands of pounds of a toxic volatile chemical like HF/MHF. To exacerbate the inherent risks, the Torrance refinery MHF alkylation unit has been poorly maintained. […] A 2016 inspection by the US EPA and Cal OSHA revealed shocking conditions in the alkylation unit there. The inspection report revealed, “Some [deficiencies in alkylation unit equipment] were not fixed for multiple weeks, even those identified as safeguards.” Dr Joseph Lyou, SCAQMD Board Member, stated that “This [EPA Inspection Report] is one of the most disconcerting government reports I’ve ever read!”

WW: If MHF were accidentally released from the Valero refinery in Wilmington, how many people in the surrounding community would be affected?



Dr. Hayati: Experts in Superior, Wisconsin, evacuated 40,000 people from a 70-square mile area in response to a potential 15,000 lbs HF release at the Husky refinery.

Population density to the east of Valero is close to 10,000 per square mile; to the north it’s even higher. At least 700,000 people reside within an area the size of Husky’s evacuation zone. That means evacuation would be impossible here and tens of thousands could die.

A 1986 test release of 8,300 lbs HF in the NV desert showed the plume was still lethal at three miles distance. Each of Valero’s acid settler tanks has 55,000 lbs MHF. If that entire amount were released by a quake or large explosion, the count of affected people would be well over a million.



WW: What kind of bodily injuries can be sustained from coming in contact with an MHF plume?



Dr. Hayati: MHF exposure would at a minimum cause burns to skin, eyes, lungs, throat, and mouth. But HF is most notorious for the systemic poisoning that occurs from fluoride ions that pass through the skin, travel in the blood stream, attack bones, and bind with calcium and magnesium, causing electrolyte imbalance and eventually heart failure.

It is also common for victims exposed to HF to die of asphyxiation as their lungs fill with blood and fluids. Exposure to 40 parts per million (ppm) for one hour can kill you. Exposure to 20 ppm for one hour can cause serious and permanent health effects such as nervous system disorders, blindness, respiratory problems, and heart arrhythmia.

To make things worse, delayed symptoms can develop after it is too late for treatment to be effective. As a result, anyone who might have been exposed to an MHF plume would need to receive immediate HF specific medical care. The AQMD reports that LA County Emergency Medical Services has only enough medication to treat about 40 HF exposure victims!

Our region is absolutely unprepared to respond to a large MHF release. And we should not have to prepare. An MHF release is not a natural disaster; using a safe alternative can prevent it entirely.

WW: Is evacuation possible in the case of an accidental MHF release? If not, can people in the vicinity of the accident shelter in place?



Dr. Hayati: Evacuation is impossible due to population density. If a fraction of MHF in a single tank (15,000 lbs) were released, over 700,000 people would be affected. The East Coast just evacuated about one million people over three days in anticipation of hurricane Florence. People here would have anywhere from a few minutes to at most a few hours to escape. There would be gridlock, and people would be in their cars when the plume hit. Cars offer even less protection from chemical vapors than a building.

Shelter in place is less of a public safety measure than a desperate last resort when evacuation is impossible. For shelter in place to be effective, the shelter building needs to be airtight and the plume needs to dissipate within less than an hour. The average residence or commercial building in our areas are not even close to airtight and lower wind speeds could result in the plume lingering for hours. During this time, the HF concentration would steadily build up inside even a well-sealed shelter room. People could suffer horribly inside their shelter rooms, and could experience serious irreversible injuries or even death inside a shelter if the plume lingers over an hour.

The HF hazard zones for both refinerises cover a total of some 1,330 square miles in which at least 10 million people are at risk (assuming the average LA County population of 7,545 per mi2). It is alarming that much less than 1% of those people has minimal awareness of or the proper equipment to maximize the modest benefits of shelter in place.



WW: Currently, what are the biggest barriers to having MHF phased out and banned?



Dr. Hayati: The two largest barriers to action are powerful special interest groups and a general lack of public awareness. Elected officials and public agencies are putting the profits of two refineries above the safety of millions of residents because of the wealth of the oil, petrochemical, and chemical industries. The biggest obstacle is getting our representatives to act in our best interest rather than the interest of large corporations and lobbyists.

WW: If MHF is banned at the Wilmington and Torrance refineries, won’t that result in job losses for the surrounding communities?



Dr Hayati: No. The construction of a new unit for Torrance and conversion of Valero’s existing unit would create at least 400 new jobs at each refinery for the time of construction, some two years. No jobs will be lost. The refineries will not close down, and temporary down times of the alkylation units themselves will be short: less than 6 months for Torrance and about 1 year for Valero.

Torrance Refining Company’s contractor Stillwater reports that other units at the refineries may continue operating at about 73% production levels during the alkylation unit down time. The impact of MHF replacement will be much less than the 2015 explosion, when ExxonMobil’s gross negligence resulted in the entire refinery operating at less than 20% capacity for more than 18 months.

WW: How long would it take for the Wilmington and Torrance refineries to phase out the manufacture of MHF?



Dr. Hayati: The refineries could replace MHF in 4 years total. Other refineries elsewhere (including 2 that belong to Valero) are currently building 4 new alky units; and each one has allocated 3 years total for the project. Valero and Torrance would have 3 years to complete the engineering, design, permitting, logistics, procurement, and preliminary construction during which the HF units would continue operating. Valero’s 2004 EIR estimated it would take one year for it to tear down the HF unit and build a new one. Work on conversion should not take longer than that.



WW: Whom can people contact to voice their concerns about MHF?



Dr. Hayati: The SCAQMD Board and any elected official. State and local officials include senators, representatives, school board officials, the LA County Board of Supervisors, city Mayors and council members. They can also reach out to school principals, superintendents, fire chiefs, and police chiefs. LEPC Region I can also be contacted as it is their responsibility to inform people about the hazard of MHF and create and practice emergency plans, which they have not done.

It is also important to contact your friends and neighbors. We need to get the word out broadly to the public and force representatives to represent us, instead of the narrow and short-term interests of two independent refiners.

Wilmington residents can contact Joe Buscaino, their City Councilman, who is Mayor Garcetti’s appointee on the AQMD Board. They can request for Buscaino to meet with TRAA in person, and support a Rule 1410 mandating MHF replacement with a safe alternative within four years. His office can be reached at (310) 732-4515.



WW: How does one become involved with your organization, the TRAA?



Dr. Hayati: Our meetings are open to the public, at the Torrance Sizzler, 2880Sepulveda Blvd, on the 1st and 3rd Monday of the month. Or you can engage online at TRAASouthBay.com where you can sign up to receive our twice-monthly newsletter, sign our petition, and send letters to the AQMD.

This Saturday, 9/22, the AQMD Board’s Refinery Committee is holding an important public meeting to discuss concepts for Rule 1410 to (possibly) regulate HF alkylation in Southern CA. Please come before the 9am start time to get a seat at the Wilmington Middle School, 1700 Gulf Ave. There’s more information on the event page, and on the “Torrance Refinery Action Alliance” Facebook page.

Contact us at info@TRAASouthBay.com and offer your help if you’re unable to come to meetings. Send your address to get a sign or TRAA brochures to Lawnsigns@TRAASouthBay.com.

There’s plenty to do! We need volunteers.