The ExxonMobil Torrance refinery in Southern California, after an explosion on February 18, 2015 had ripped through the facility, dislodging a hulking 40-ton chunk of debris that narrowly avoided a tank containing tens of thousands of pounds of highly toxic modified hydrofluoric acid.
Credit: Chemical Safety Board

At 8:48 a.m. on the morning of February 18, 2015, an explosion at the ExxonMobil Torrance refinery in Southern California ripped through the facility with such ferocity, the resulting shockwaves registered on the Richter scale. Dust was scattered over the densely populated neighborhood up to a mile away from the blast. Four workers suffered minor injuries. A hulking 40-ton chunk of debris from the refinery’s Electrostatic Precipitator narrowly avoided hitting a tank containing tens of thousands of pounds of highly toxic modified hydrofluoric acid.

The damning findings of a Chemical Safety Board (CSB) review of the accident were made public earlier this month. Among some of the problems identified in the report: the refinery repeatedly violated ExxonMobil’s corporate safety standards leading up to the incident, while […]

Read the Full Article