Ban on toxic gas could cost oil refineries millions.

Ban on toxic gas could cost oil refineries millions

After more than two years of study and debate, Southland air regulators urged that a controversial industrial chemical used by four refineries be banned.

Bulk use of hydrogen fluoride, a catalyst used in the production of unleaded gasoline, should be phased out by 1995, according to a draft regulation issued by the South Coast Air Quality Management District this month. AQMD officials claim the ban is necessary to avert a "Bhopal-type disaster," referring to the 1984 chemical spill in India that killed more than 2,400 people. If approved by the district's board of directors later this year, the prohibition would force costly changes at four local referinies and the possible closure of a South Bay chemical plant.

"We regard the use of hydrogen fluoride in large quantities as extremely hazardous to public health," said AQMD spokesman Tom Eichorn. "The chance of an accident happening is extremely small, but even that is an unacceptable risk."

Refineries where hydrogen fluoride will be banned include: Mobil Oil's Torrance facility which uses 375 gallons daily; Ultra-mar's Wilmington refinery, 283 gallons daily; Golden West's Santa Fe Springs facility, 81 gallons daily; and Powerine's Santa Fe Springs refinery, 73 gallons daily.

A spokesman for Mobil said it would cost the oil company roughly $100 million to replace hydrogen fluoride with another catalyst, probably sulfuric acid. In the meantime, Mobil has instituted a variety of safeguards to reduce the likelihood and effects of a hydrogen fluoride spill.

"In light of these continuing efforts, we are disappointed that the AQMD's current draft proposes to completely ban the use of hydrogen fluoride in the refinery processes," said Mobil spokesman Barry Engelberg. He would not disclose what actions Mobil - which helped defeat a Torrance ballot measure that would have outlawed the chemical - plans to take regarding hydrogen fluoride.

Ultramar refinery spokesman Joe Burton said his company is analyzing the rule and expects it to be a "very expensive proposition" if approved by AQMD directors. Ultramar officials have in the past said it could cost $45 million to replace the chemical with an alternative acid.

Allied Signal's plant in El Segundo, which uses 4,320 gallons of the chemical daily to produce refrigerants, faces the toughest future of all the hydrogen- fluoride users. AQMD officials say the plant would probably have to shut down because no substitutes for hydrogen fluoride, used as a catalyst in the production of air-conditioner and freezer refrigerants, are available.

"We acknowledge the ban will be costly and that the alternative, sulfuric acid, is nasty stuff," said the AQMD's Eichorn. "You can't put a price on human lives but we still expect the oil companies to vigorously defend their use of hydrogen fluoride."

Concern about the use of the chemical began mounting after a November 1987 accident at Mobil's Torrance refinery in which six workers were injured and property damage totaled $17 million. An accidental release of the chemical at a Texas refinery injured 1,000 people just three weeks earlier.

If leaked in large quantities, hydrogen fluoride forms a ground-hugging cloud of toxic gas that officials fear would drift into surrounding residential communities.

Air quality officials intended to make a decision on hydrogen fluoride last February, but postponed an official ruling until a task force completed an AQMD-backed report.