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News Release

T – 10 – 18
Barbara A. Lee, Director


FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE
June 20, 2018

Contact: Russ Edmondson
(916) 323-3372
Russ.Edmonsdon@dtsc.ca.gov

DTSC Takes Enforcement Action Against Torrance Refining Company for
Illegal Hazardous Waste Storage

SACRAMENTO – The Department of Toxic Substances Control (DTSC) announced today that it  will require Torrance Refining Co. to pay $150,000 in penalties for illegally storing hazardous waste at its oil refinery in Torrance.

The Los Angeles-based company will face additional penalties unless it meets deadlines for recycling or disposing of the hazardous waste. The penalties and recycling and disposal requirements are included in a settlement agreement between DTSC and Torrance Refining.

“We take these violations extremely seriously. This agreement puts in place strict deadlines to ensure that the hazardous waste is removed in a timely manner,” said DTSC Director Barbara A. Lee. “These actions are necessary to protect public health and the environment.”

A joint inspection by DTSC and the U.S. Environmental Protection Agency (U.S. EPA) found that Torrance Refining had illegally accumulated 364 bins of hazardous waste, each with 20-cubic yard capacity, among more than half a dozen violations of state and federal hazardous waste laws.

The refinery did not have the necessary equipment to recycle or process the hazardous waste, and it stored the bins without a permit or authorization from DTSC. The Department ordered the company to remove or recycle the hazardous waste in March.

Under the agreement, the contents of at least 179 of the bins must be recycled or disposed of by July 31, 2018 and at least 92 more bins must be recycled or disposed of by Oct. 31, 2018. The contents of the remaining bins must be recycled or disposed of by Dec. 31, 2018.

If Torrance Refining does not meet each of the three deadlines, the refinery will be required to pay a penalty of $6,000 per bin.

DTSC, in coordination with the California Attorney General’s Office, is preparing to take further enforcement action to address additional violations found during the joint inspection with U.S. EPA, including storage of hazardous waste in containers and tanks without a permit or authorization, and failure to make a determination that the wastes were hazardous.

PBF Energy Inc., which owns Torrance Refining, purchased the facility from ExxonMobil in July 2016. The facility is capable of processing an average of 155,000 barrels of crude oil daily and producing 1.8 billion gallons of gasoline a year. The operations of the facility include the blending of gasoline and the production of diesel fuel, jet fuel, liquefied petroleum gases, coke, and sulfur.

View documents related to this enforcement action on our Site Project Documents page.

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FOR GENERAL INQUIRIES: Contact the Department of Toxic Substances Control to report illegal handling, discharge, or disposal of hazardous waste or other environmental concerns at Calepa.my.salesforce-sites.com/complaints/Complaint.  

 

The mission of DTSC is to protect California's people and environment from harmful effects of toxic substances by restoring contaminated resources, enforcing hazardous waste laws, reducing hazardous waste generation, and encouraging the manufacture of chemically safer products.