Situation stable at site of ExxonMobil refinery crane collapse in Torrance

A 300-ton crane collapsed at the ExxonMobil refinery in Torrance this moing, causing minor injuries to three workers and emergency flares to bu off excess chemicals generated by the accident, officials said.

Torrance Fire Department sent 27 firefighters to the scene on 190th Street near Crenshaw Boulevard at about 9:30 a.m., said Torrance Fire Department Battalion Chief Bob Millea.

“There is no active leak at this time (and) no off-site impact,” Millea said, shortly after the incident took place. “Initially, some flammable gas was suppressed by water monitors.”

The scene was declared “static” by fire officials at about 11 a.m. Three injured workers did not need hospital treatment.

Company officials refused to say what caused the incident, what piece of equipment the crane was working on when it collapsed or the chemicals bued off in flaring.

“We will conduct a thorough investigation of the cause of the event,” ExxonMobil officials said in a written statement, adding that flares were used to “safely stabilize operations.”

Chemical bu-offs, or flares, can be triggered by an unexpected stoppage in refinery operations or mechanical failures, among other things. They are used to reduce the toxicity of chemicals released into the air during petroleum refining.

The refinery is being readied for a sale to PBF refining, which agreed to pay $537.5 million for it last year. PBF is scheduled to take over the plant on July 1.

In February 2015, an explosion on the site damaged a piece of pollution-control equipment and reduced the refinery’s production capacity. The blast sent debris across a mile radius and nearly caused a catastrophic release of deadly hydrofluoric acid.

The refinery restarted production on May 10, 2016, more than a year after the explosion which sent gas prices soaring statewide.