Attorney General Bonta: Continue Addressing the deadly HF/MHF Issue at Oil Refineries
The Issue
To Attorney General Robert Bonta:
The Torrance Refinery Action Alliance (“TRAA”) is a grassroots organization dedicated to the phase out of Hydrofluoric/Modified Hydrofluoric Acid (“HF/MHF”). HF/MHF is an extremely dangerous chemical that, if released, could cause permanent injury and even death to hundreds-of-thousands of South Bay residents, workers, and visitors. Our organization is writing this letter to thank the Attorney General for his work on the issue, including the letter to the EPA on the agency’s proposed rule with 20 other Attorneys General where it states:
“Because of its unique responsibility, EPA should use this rulemaking to impose a robust safer technology protocol that will drive the remaining hydrofluoric acid-using refineries to identify and implement safer alternatives"
We greatly appreciate the courage of the letter and the broad institutional backing that it garnered. However, the fight to rid our communities of HF/MHF is long from over and needs your help. The threat posed by the continued use of HF/MHF in U.S. refineries poses a plethora of risks: natural disasters, human-made accidents, deliberate acts of terror. The potential threat of an HF/MHF release, deliberate or not, poses a very real threat to the health & safety of our communities and to our national security. This exceptional danger requires exceptional action on the part of your office.
Currently, the EPA is mulling over a new rule regarding the Risk Management Plan required for refineries. Our hope is that the rule would mandate that all refineries analyze their current operations for safer alternatives, have those analyses be audited by a third party, and be required to convert if they are found to be able to do so. If the EPA does promulgate such a rule, California could continue to lead the nation in environmental issues and make sure the refineries adhere to the EPA’s ruling. If the EPA does not codify such a rule we would urge the Attorney General to take the refineries to court in order to protect the people of the South Bay.
Petition Closed
The Issue
To Attorney General Robert Bonta:
The Torrance Refinery Action Alliance (“TRAA”) is a grassroots organization dedicated to the phase out of Hydrofluoric/Modified Hydrofluoric Acid (“HF/MHF”). HF/MHF is an extremely dangerous chemical that, if released, could cause permanent injury and even death to hundreds-of-thousands of South Bay residents, workers, and visitors. Our organization is writing this letter to thank the Attorney General for his work on the issue, including the letter to the EPA on the agency’s proposed rule with 20 other Attorneys General where it states:
“Because of its unique responsibility, EPA should use this rulemaking to impose a robust safer technology protocol that will drive the remaining hydrofluoric acid-using refineries to identify and implement safer alternatives"
We greatly appreciate the courage of the letter and the broad institutional backing that it garnered. However, the fight to rid our communities of HF/MHF is long from over and needs your help. The threat posed by the continued use of HF/MHF in U.S. refineries poses a plethora of risks: natural disasters, human-made accidents, deliberate acts of terror. The potential threat of an HF/MHF release, deliberate or not, poses a very real threat to the health & safety of our communities and to our national security. This exceptional danger requires exceptional action on the part of your office.
Currently, the EPA is mulling over a new rule regarding the Risk Management Plan required for refineries. Our hope is that the rule would mandate that all refineries analyze their current operations for safer alternatives, have those analyses be audited by a third party, and be required to convert if they are found to be able to do so. If the EPA does promulgate such a rule, California could continue to lead the nation in environmental issues and make sure the refineries adhere to the EPA’s ruling. If the EPA does not codify such a rule we would urge the Attorney General to take the refineries to court in order to protect the people of the South Bay.
Petition Updates
Share this petition
Petition created on February 19, 2024