The Clean Air Council, Communities for a Better Environment, and the Natural Resources Defense Council are suing the EPA to ban or more strictly regulate the use of hydrogen fluoride in refineries, including at the Trainer oil refinery, writes Sophia Schmidt for WHYY.
Hydrogen fluoride is used in about 40 refineries across the country, including at the Trainer facility.
If released, the chemical can travel for miles and is deadly when inhaled or splashed on the skin at high levels.
“Honestly, this chemical … is the stuff of nightmares,” said Annie Fox, a Clean Air Council staff attorney.
In a worst-case scenario, hydrogen fluoride could travel 17 miles from the Trainer plant if released and expose nearly 2 million people, according to a 2022 EPA filing from refinery owner Monroe Energy.
Monroe Energy spokesman Adam Gattuso said the company has a range of safety measures in its alkylation unit where hydrogen fluoride is used.
Those include cameras, laser sensors, paint that changes color in the presence of hydrogen fluoride, monthly inspections of thousands of points in the refinery’s equipment, and a recently upgraded system that diverts hydrogen fluoride to a safe location in an emergency.
Find out more about the use of hydrogen fluoride in refineries at WHYY.
