TRAA held a successful rally and march on Saturday, thanks to the many efforts of Isabel Douvan Schwartz, Zach Badaouie, Steve Goldsmith and numerous others.
Headline speaker Rep. Maxine Waters gave a rousing speech, as did local activists and politicians. Breaking news: Rep Waters announced that she will raise a bill in the House to force a conversion from HF. After music and speeches, the crowd marched from Columbia Park to the refinery entrance to show them we are still serious in our demand that the PBF Refinery convert from HF/MHF to one of the several “commercially proven, vastly safer alternatives.
A Los Angeles Times article proclaimed “Torrance residents fear continued use of hydrofluoric acid at Torrance Refinery endangers community“, and gave a very positive review of the rally. It also included a PBF statement “We are aware of the misleading and inaccurate claims by the activist group, which they have been making for years,” . TRAA uses only information provide by the oil industry, government agencies or highly vetted experts. We would welcome a dialogue with PBF for them to identify the “misleading statements” so we can clarify or correct any errors. We also want to learn the contents of their report on alternative chemicals that was required by October 2022 and has been hidden by them and the Torrance Fire Department.
In a response to the LA Times article, we wrote the following letter to the editor:
Thanks for your February 17th article on Torrance Refinery Action Alliance’s community demonstration for conversion from deadly chemical HF/MHF used at only two refineries in California — both in LA County — to a vastly safer, commercially-proven alternative. Congressmember Maxine Waters broke the news that she would introduce legislation echoing the words of AG Rob Bonta “to drive the remaining hydrofluoric acid-using refineries to identify and implement safer alternatives”
Torrance Refinery owner PBF, dismissed TRAA as “activists making mis-leading statements.” Statements found on http://www.TRAA.website are from industry, government, or highly-vetted expert sources. We challenge PBF to give specifics on these “misleading statements”, so we can clarify or correct. We advocate for transparency and accountability so why are they hiding the reports required by state regulation on proven safer alternatives.
US Chemical Safety Board states that a large HF release nearly occurred in Torrance in 2015 possibly killing thousands. They urge converting to a vastly safer commercially proven alternative. To us these are not misleading statements, they’re chilling!
Steven Goldsmith, President, Torrance Refinery Action Alliance
Torrance Refinery Action Alliance 