Four people were injured in an explosion at an apartment building in Torrance Sunday afternoon, officials said. TORRANCE, Calif.- An explosion and fire ripped through a gasoline processing unit at an Exxon Mobil refinery in Torrance, California, near Los Angeles on Wednesday, slightly injuring four workers and shattering windows of surrounding buildings, authorities said.Investigators were trying to determine the cause of the blast, which occurred shortly before 9 a.m. PST (12 p.m. Watch: Explosion reported at ExxonMobil refinery in California - CBS News State of the Union CBS News App Ukraine Crisis COVID Pandemic CBS News Live Managing Your Money Essentials Shopping. Caltech officials said the explosion created ground shaking that was equivalent to a magnitude-1.7 earthquake. We are very proud of the many technical advances we have added to our Alkylation Unit over the years, the refinery says on its website, which is additional proof of our continuing commitment to safe, reliable operations.. One person remained hospitalized with a knee injury. California Occupational Safety and Health officials were at the site investigating. An ExxonMobil refinery explosion in Torrance injured two, caused a 1.7 magnitude shake and portends pain at the pumps. Across California, CA | News | 15h. The refinery, where about 155,000 barrels of crude oil are processed each day, has been part of the South Bay landscape since the 1920s. The cause of the accident was not immediately known, but it was believed to be caused by over pressurization in the plants electrostatic precipitators. They claim nothing has been done, she added, without any proof, other than their beliefs, which are incorrect and misleading.. The incident was reported around 1:15 p.m. on the 23500 block of Anza Avenue, just . 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. More Stories Drone helps. A powerful blast at an ExxonMobil oil refinery rocked Torrance, California, on Wednesday. God may not warn us again.. Many in the neighborhood reported being startled by a large blast. Having affordable fuel that is readily available is a vital part of the California economy.. Torrance firefighters responded to the 23500 block of Anza Avenue just before 1:20 p.m. Sunday. All rights reserved, Los Angeles County Holds Stable COVID-19 Hospitalization Rate, Tax Deadlines Extended to October for Most Californians Due to Storms, Check Your Pockets: These Coins Can Be Worth Up To $24,000, Glendale Neighborhood Frustrated After an Illegal Hostel Moves In, Road Rage Incident Kicks Off Pursuit, Carjacking, and Weapon Fired Out Window in Wild Chase, NASA Images Show Southern California Mountains Before and After Winter Storm. Get browser notifications for breaking news, live events, and exclusive reporting. We knew we were moving in next to a refinery it was here before we were, Cliff Heise said in an interview. There was a "large fire explosion" at the ExxonMobil Torrance Refinery in Southern California on Wednesday morning, according to the Torrance Police Department. Hutchings holds a B.A. So far though, it doesn't appear as if any serious damage or injuries have occurred, barring reported explosions in Torrance. That 2015 blast registered as a small earthquake that shook nearby houses, injured four of the facilitys workers and covered the area in dust and ash. If you're interested in joining our team, you can apply for a position here. Those safety advances, however, have come since the 2015 explosion and a harsh assessment by federal investigators. That failure ultimately allowed hydrocarbons to flow into the air side of the FCC, where they ignited in a piece of equipment called the electrostatic precipitator, or ESP, causing an explosion of the ESP. "It was like a loud sonic boom. 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.. The large turnout surprised even the diverse group of participants unaccustomed to seeing such political activism in a conservative community. Four apartments have been damaged, two of which sustained "significant damage.". Both the PBF and Valero refineries are situated in densely populated areas of the South Bay: About 245,000 people live within three miles of the Torrance refinery and another 153,000 live within that same distance of Valeros refinery, AQMD said. 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. in communication and M.S. And then the people who were right by just felt a shake, like an earthquake.. Those improvements were completed in 2021 and are now in service, Lafayette said. CSB investigations look into all aspects of chemical accidents, including physical causes such as equipment failure as well as inadequacies in regulations, industry standards, and safety management systems. For decades, hydrofluoric acid was a standard chemical in oil refining, serving as a catalyst during a process known as alkylation. Organizers estimated the crowd size at more than 400. Overturned gas tanker explodes, killing 1 person, Texas mom in custody after 5 of her kids were stabbed, leaving 3 dead, Ja Morant says he'll get help after video shows apparent gun. There have also been multiple safety enhancements to prevent leaks, they say. 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. The bottom line is Torrance Refinery now has the most advanced safety systems of any HF Alkylation Unit in California, the U.S., and the world.. Zehl & Associates is always looking for smart, hardworking and talented personal injury attorneys and staff to join our team. The latest salvo in the battle over MHF came last month, when the Los Angeles County Board of Supervisors called for a ban on the highly toxic chemical. The refineries are the only two in the state that use the substance. Copyright 2023 KABC Television, LLC. Firefighters found gasoline flowing on the ground as a result of the explosion, Torrance Fire Department Capt. 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. The information you review on this site is not, nor is it intended to be, legal advice.The verdicts and settlements that we have listed are simply intended to be representative of the cases that Zehl & Associates has handled for past clients; they are not a guarantee or prediction of the outcome in your or any other lawsuit. 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. Prior to joining the Press-Telegram, she served as the Daily Breeze's lead city hall reporter. Here's your go-to source for today's LA news. The explosion was so severe that it caused residents in the area to experience a shock similar to the effects of a 1.7 magnitude earthquake. When you think about it, she said, it makes you not want to sleep at night.. The refinery has been under constant scrutiny since the explosion as small fires and flare ups have been reported since and raised concern among residents living nearby. Residents touted the move, introduced by Supervisor Janice Hahn and timed to the anniversary, while PBF, in a statement, criticized the county boards vote. If you or a loved one were injured or burned in a plant or refinery fire, contact ourplant and refinery accident attorneysfor a free consultation at 1-888-603-3636 or by Clicking Here. 6 Min Read. In the past 5 years alone, our Plant Explosion Lawyers have Won over $1 Billion for workers who were seriously injured and burned in refinery and industrial accidents, represented workers in connection with every major plant and refinery explosion in recent history, and recovered record-setting verdicts and settlements against the largest oil and gas companies in the world, including ExxonMobil, Williams, Chevron, and ConocoPhillips. Two others sustained minor injuries. 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. By then, the husband said, theyd been living in the city long enough to know exactly what the sound was. 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. No injuries were reported and there were no evacuations. There was no sign of an announced safety rally at the refinery PBF had planned to hold for workers as a counterpoint to the demonstration so they could reflect upon the (2015) incident.. Get up to speed with our Essential California newsletter, sent six days a week. The explosion filled surrounding neighborhoods with ash, fiberglass, and glass wool. That update was completed last year as well. I urge SCAQMD to act with urgency, said the South Bay Democrat. The refineries arent going to eat that cost, William Burke, former chairman of the SCAQMDs governing board said in a previous interview. Fill out the form below for a free case review with one of our experienced personal injury lawyers. Thousands of people could have been harmed if the MHF had dispersed beyond the Torrance refinery in 2015, the CSB report said. It was unclear what caused the fire. 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. The explosion filled surrounding neighborhoods with ash, fiberglass, and glass wool. Torrance firefighters . Instead, if a leak occurred, a ground-hugging liquid cloud would form, according to a 2018 report from the Torrance refinery defending its use of the chemical. Those calls for a ban remain. There was also minor damage to two adjoining apartments, according to Millea. The CSB investigation also discovered that a large piece of debris from the explosion narrowly missed hitting a tank containing tens of thousands of pounds of modified hydrofluoric acid, or MHF. PBF also reached a separate agreement with the U.S. Environmental Protection Agency to upgrade an additional water monitor in 2020, according to Lafayette. This is a breaking news story. For a while, though, flames shot 40 feet into the air. 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.. 1998 - 2023 Nexstar Media Inc. | All Rights Reserved. The explosion, which happened . Torrance Refinery on April 22 reported an unplanned flaring event, induced by damaged equipment, that sent an additional 765 pounds of SOx and 143 pounds of volatile organic compounds into the. Its been a few years now, and there has been very little progress.. Of the injured, two were said to have sustained significant injuries. Steve Deuel said. You may occasionally receive promotional content from the Los Angeles Times. Authorities said the incident happened around 6 a.m. and 36 firefighters responded to the refinery. 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. In September, the South Coast Air Quality Management District governing board voted instead to accept a voluntary oil industry pledge to enhance safety measures. They have lived in a neighborhood directly adjacent to the Torrance refinery for 48 years. Chevron, for example, successfully converted its Salt Lake City refinery from HF to a new alkylation technology last year.