Torrance ExxonMobil refinery restarts without problems {CA}

[thackney]

Torrance ExxonMobil refinery restarts without problems
http://www.dailybreeze.com/business/20160510/torrance-exxonmobil-refinery-restarts-without-problems
05/10/16

ExxonMobil successfully restarted its Torrance refinery and went without pollution-control devices for fewer than three hours before its electrostatic precipitator resumed operation, the region’s air pollution watchdog has confirmed.

“The ESP is now full functioning,” Sam Atwood, a spokesman with the South Coast Air Quality Management District, said via email Tuesday morning. “They are in the process of restarting the refinery, which will probably take a couple of days.”

The refinery was restarted overnight Monday without using the pollution-control device, which is where hydrocarbons ignited and caused a massive explosion in February 2015. The refinery has remained offline since.

Officials said emissions would peak for the first six hours, but were not expected to rise to levels that would affect public health.

But ExxonMobil ended up shutting down the ESP only from about 9-11:30 p.m. Monday, Atwood said. At no time did air quality levels during the start-up exceed federal or state health standards, he said.

However, it may appear that way to the untrained eye scanning the emissions measured by two newly installed air monitors.

There are different health standards for different size particulate matter....

[thackney]

Wednesday, February 18, 2015
http://abc7.com/news/exxon-mobil-refinery-in-torrance-damaged-after-explosion/523467/

TORRANCE, Calif. (KABC) -- An explosion at the Exxon Mobil refinery caused structural damage and was felt for miles around Torrance on Wednesday, but there were no major injuries.

The blast happened in a processing unit at the refinery in the 3700 block of 190th Street at 8:50 a.m. The explosion was followed by a ground fire, which was quickly knocked down.

The explosion was so strong that it registered as a 1.7-magnitude earthquake on a nearby seismometer operated by Caltech and USGS....