Gage Babcock Associates

The Torrance City Council has unanimously refused to accept a consultant's study that blames lax management for safety problems at the troubled Mobil Oil refinery. Officials said errors in the report need to be corrected and more information provided before it is presented to the city. "The report was flawed by discrepancies that need to be ironed out," Mayor Katy Geissert said. The $88,000 study, prepared by Gage-Babcock & Associates and Mittelhauser Corp.

The Torrance City Council has unanimously refused to accept a consultant's study that blames lax management for safety problems at the troubled Mobil Oil refinery. Officials said errors in the report need to be corrected and more information provided before it is presented to the city. "The report was flawed by discrepancies that need to be ironed out," Mayor Katy Geissert said. The $88,000 study, prepared by Gage-Babcock & Associates and Mittelhauser Corp.

Mobil Oil officials on Wednesday criticized a consultant's safety study that blamed lax management for accidents at the oil company's Torrance refinery, calling it a sloppy job that contains major errors. The author of the report, which was released Saturday, conceded that there might be discrepancies in the study but defended it as an honest job.

Mobil Oil officials on Wednesday criticized a consultant's safety study that blamed lax management for accidents at the oil company's Torrance refinery, calling it a sloppy job that contains major errors. The author of the report, which was released Saturday, conceded that there might be discrepancies in the study but defended it as an honest job.

A consultant's safety report on Mobil Oil Co.'s troubled Torrance refinery blames carelessness, failure to follow safety guidelines and lax management for what the report terms an unacceptably high number of deaths, explosions, fires and other accidents at the plant in the last 10 years. The $88,000 report by Gage-Babcock & Associates and Mittelhauser Corp.

The Torrance City Council has voted unanimously for a wide-ranging study of safety at the Mobil oil refinery. The study, which could cost $88,000, will examine employee training, safety procedures and equipment at the refinery, where a thunderous explosion in November caused a fire that burned for two days. The study, which will be conducted by Gage-Babcock & Associates and the Mittelhauser Corp., is expected to take about 10 weeks.

Gage-Babcock & Associates and Mittelhauser Corp., the consultants who wrote a harshly critical safety report on the troubled Mobil Oil refinery in Torrance, are experienced in assessing accident-plagued refineries. In 1980, Ventura County hired the two consulting firms to evaluate the USA Petrochem refinery, which--much like the Torrance refinery--had experienced a series of fires and explosions in the mid- and late 1970s. One worker was killed and several were injured.

Four workers at Mobil's troubled Torrance refinery were hospitalized briefly on Wednesday after breathing toxic sulfur dioxide fumes released during a minor fire. The refinery has had a series of explosions, fires and accidents in the last 18 months and is the subject of an intensive worker-safety inspection by the federal Occupational Safety and Health Administration. The city of Torrance is also spending $88,000 to examine whether the refinery poses a risk to surrounding areas.

Safety officials say the most troubling issue at Mobil's Torrance refinery is the use of hydrofluoric acid. It's a chemical so toxic that the federal government labels it "acutely hazardous." It is so dangerous that exposure to concentrations as low as 50 parts per million for 30 minutes can be fatal. A safety study on the refinery by Gage-Babcock & Associates and the Mittelhauser Corp.

More than 600 people who live or work near Mobil Oil's Torrance refinery filed suit against the company Tuesday, claiming they have suffered serious health problems and their property has decreased in value because of excessive air emissions, fires, explosions, noise and soot spawned by the giant facility. In an unusual move, attorneys Christopher Angelo and Robert Mars recruited plaintiffs for the lawsuit by sending them postcards bearing a skull and crossbones.

A consultant's safety report on Mobil Oil Co.'s troubled Torrance refinery blames carelessness, failure to follow safety guidelines and lax management for what the report terms an unacceptably high number of deaths, explosions, fires and other accidents at the plant in the last 10 years. The $88,000 report by Gage-Babcock & Associates and Mittelhauser Corp.

In the wake of a consultant's harshly critical safety report on the Mobil Oil refinery in Torrance, City Council members said Wednesday that any action they take will hinge on a long-awaited legal opinion that outlines the city's power to regulate the refinery. Former Torrance City Atty. Stanley E. Remelmeyer, who has worked with consultants on the legal opinion since August, said it will be completed by Jan. 17.