The Weekly Newspaper of Torrance Herald Publications - Torrance, El Segundo, Manhattan Beach, Hawthorne, Lawndale, & Inglewood Community Newspapers Since 1911 - (310) 322-1830 - Vol. 7, No. 9 - March 2, 2017 Inside This Issue Certified & Licensed Professionals.......................2 Classifieds............................6 Crossword/Sudoku.............6 Legals....................................7 Pets........................................4 Police Briefs........................2 Real Estate...........................8 Sports....................................3 TerriAnn in Torrance..........5 Weekend Forecast A Cold, But Sunny Winter Day at Torrance Beach Betty and Ted Lieu Named 2017 James R. Armstrong Honorees by Torrance Education Foundation Award Presentation at 2017 Round Up for Education Dinner on April 1 Torrance Education Foundation (TEF) recently announced it will honor U.S. Congressman Ted Lieu and his wife, attorney Betty Lieu, with the James R. Armstrong Community Leadership Award. The award, which honors a community member for extraordinary leadership in support of education and community growth, will be presented to the Lieus as a highlight of the 2017 Round Up for Education Dinner benefiting TEF, to be held on April 1 at the Depot Restaurant, which celebrates educators and educational successes in Torrance. About the James R. Armstrong Community Leadership Award Torrance Education Foundation’s James R. Armstrong Community Leadership Award honors a prominent community member whose personal contributions of time, energy, vision, and financial resources in support of the Foundation and the broader Torrance community distinguish them as an exemplary leader. The award remembers the life, service and contributions of the late James R. Armstrong, an iconic and beloved Torrance civic leader who served the City See Education Foundation, page 6 In-between all the rains, there was this sight along the local coast… Photo by Peter Thornton. Friday Sunny 73˚/50˚ Saturday AM Clouds/ PM Sun 64˚/52˚ Sunday AM Clouds/ PM Sun 59˚/47˚ Residents Fill Council Chambers During Quarterly Refinery Workshop By Cristian Vasquez With the City Council chambers filled to capacity and with standing room-only in the exterior hallways, Torrance residents made their presence felt on Tuesday night during the quarterly refinery update workshop. The workshop, part of an ongoing collaborative effort by the City of Torrance, refinery representatives, Southern California Edison, the Torrance Fire Department, South Coast Air Quality Management District and local residents, was an opportunity to update all parties and the community at-large about the steps being taken to ensure the safety of local residents. Also allowed to make a presentation at the beginning of the workshop was Dr. Sally Hayati, founding member of the Torrance Refinery Action Alliance, who dedicated her time in front of the Council and residents to explain the dangers of Hydrofluoric Acid (HF). “It is important to remember what the dangers are--it’s not just the corrosive burns from the acid and the fact that it can happen, but it is also a systemic poison by virtue of the fluoride,” Dr. Hayati said. “Ions can get absorbed through your skin and your blood stream, damage your organs, stop your heart, suffocate you, kill you...” Hydrofluoric Acid (HF) is a solution of hydrogen fluoride in water and is a colorless, highly corrosive mix that has the power to dissolve many materials. In the basic oil refinery process, there is an alkylation technology studied through Mobil Research and Development that later became the property of ExxonMobil. ExxonMobil then sold the technology to the new refinery owners PBF Energy and Torrance Refinery Company. Concerned residents such as Dr. Hayati challenged the contention that modified hydrofluoric acid is less dangerous to the community. They demanded that alkylation technology become a thing of the past at the refinery. “This is why United Steel Workers Union, many of the workers, have an official position against HF alkylation,” Dr. Hayati said. “They state that no industrial process risks more lives from a single accident than alkylation using HF. If the industry cannot find the will to switch voluntarily, it must be forced by government action.” Torrance Deputy Fire Chief David A. Dumais explained that ExxonMobil maintains alkylation technology as proprietary, which makes disclosing any information without the permission of ExxonMobil difficult. Furthermore, Deputy Chief Dumais stated that the City of Torrance is prevented from revealing the alkylation technology chemistry used at the refinery in its entirety. The Deputy Chief also reminded attendees that alkylation is only one of many procedures used by refineries to convert petroleum mixes into “clean fuels that minimize” the carbon footprint and which abide by State regulations. See City Council, page 3
Torrance_030217_FNL_lorez
To see the actual publication please follow the link above