FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE
Contact: Kari Birdseye, kbirdseye@nrdc.org ; Damian Franchere, dfranchere@nrdc.org ; Gissela Chavez, Gissela@cbecal.org
Community Groups Seek Legal Action on Flesh-Dissolving Chemical at Oil Refineries
Lawsuit argues EPA is breaking federal law by refusing to regulate hydrogen fluoride, placing more than 19 million people nationwide at risk
LOS ANGELES – A federal judge in Los Angeles heard arguments today in a lawsuit seeking to force the EPA to regulate hydrogen fluoride (HF), a chemical used by at least 40 oil refineries nationwide and whose release could send a lethal cloud drifting for miles through some of the most densely populated communities in the country.
The lawsuit, brought by NRDC (Natural Resources Defense Council), Communities for a Better Environment (CBE), and Clean Air Council (CAC), argues that the EPA is obligated to regulate HF under the Toxic Substances Control Act (TSCA).
“Communities, including those around the Wilmington and Torrance refineries, have been organizing for years to push regulators to ban the use of HF in refineries. Because of the government’s continued inaction, they’ve been forced to file this lawsuit to ensure their health and safety are taken seriously and protected from the extreme risks posed by HF,” said Kendall Chappell, legal fellow with Communities for a Better Environment. “As we’ve seen in the past month alone, from the Garden Grove chemical leak to the pipeline spill that entered the Los Angeles River, and the many other leaks and spills that constantly occur, the use of toxic chemicals like HF pose ever present risks to our communities.”
HF corrodes skin and other tissue on contact and can penetrate bones through skin contact that might be undetectable for over a day. When it enters the body, it liquefies cells, disrupts nerve signaling, and can trigger fatal cardiac arrest. Additionally, as NRDC and partners have explained, when released into the air, HF forms a dense, colorless, ground-hugging cloud that travels for miles and can kill or permanently injure anyone it overtakes because of its unique chemical composition. Worse, because reaction may be delayed, a person might not seek medical care until it is too late for treatment.
“The Torrance refinery was built in 1929 and sits in an earthquake zone, heightening the risk of disaster at this specific location and elucidating the razor-thin margin between business as usual and disaster,” said Margaret Hsieh, a managing litigator at the NRDC. “If a major release occurred, people may not be aware of the danger until hydrogen fluoride was already inside people’s lungs.”
More than 840,000 people live within the danger zone of a potential release at the Torrance refinery alone, meaning one careless release has the potential to cause a mass-casualty event.
“The Chemical Safety Board warned that the catastrophic Philadelphia Refinery explosion was a wake-up call. Safety mechanisms failed, and if not for the heroic actions of refinery workers, thousands of people in Philadelphia could have been injured or killed,” said Annie Fox, an attorney at Pennsylvania’s Clean Air Council. “Aging refineries like the one in Trainer, Pennsylvania, are accidents waiting to happen, and EPA must not wait for a large-scale tragedy before acting. This is exactly the type of unreasonable risk that Congress intended TSCA to prevent.”
The groups are asking the court to rule that refinery-related HF use presents an unreasonable risk to public health and the environment, and to order the EPA to issue regulations to eliminate that risk. If the groups prevail, the court will direct the EPA to begin a federal rulemaking process. EPA would then determine whether that requires refineries to adopt safer alternatives or implement other safety measures.
For more information and background on the legal and technical issues around this case, please see this NRDC case tracker.
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NRDC (Natural Resources Defense Council) is an international nonprofit environmental organization with more than 3 million members and online activists. Established in 1970, NRDC uses science, policy, law and people power to confront the climate crisis, protect public health and safeguard nature. NRDC has offices in New York City, Washington, D.C., Los Angeles, San Francisco, Chicago, Beijing and Delhi (an office of NRDC India Pvt. Ltd).
Clean Air Council is a member-supported environmental organization serving Pennsylvania and the surrounding regions. The Council is dedicated to protecting everyone’s right to a healthy environment. The Council works through a broad array of sustainability and public health initiatives, including public education, community action, government oversight, and enforcement of environmental laws. For more information, please visit www.cleanair.org
Communities for a Better Environment (CBE) is one of the preeminent environmental justice organizations in the nation. The mission of CBE is to build people’s power in California’s low-income communities of color to achieve environmental health and justice by preventing and reducing pollution by building green, healthy, and sustainable communities and environments.