Californians are used to paying more for gasoline, but that may be tested soon if a pair of Los Angeles-area refineries are forced to stop their use of a toxic chemical.
The local air-quality regulator indicated this month that it may ban hydrofluoric acid from both PBF Energy Inc.’s Torrance refinery and one owned by Valero Energy Corp. eight miles away. The chemical, used by 35 percent of all U.S. refineries, boosts octane to make cleaner-burning gasoline. But some residents fear that if it were ever released, it could form a poisonous cloud that would threaten a quarter-million area lives.