EPA on Monday denied a petition from environmental groups seeking a ban on the use of hydrogen fluoride at oil refineries under the Toxic Substances Control Act.
The chemical, also known as HF, is used at around a quarter of refineries in the U.S. for alkylation, which increases a fuel’s octane levels. But it’s highly toxic, and accidental releases and near-misses in recent years have prompted environmentalists and the federal Chemical Safety Board to urge refineries still using HF to switch to alkylation methods using other substances.
Details: In a response sent to the Natural Resources Defense Council and other groups on Monday, EPA called the petition “deficient.”
The groups named prior incidents at refineries involving HF, such as the 2019 explosion at the Philadelphia Energy Solutions facility that released 2.5 tons of HF, in making their case. But the groups “did not establish the likely duration, intensity, frequency, and number of exposures of HF involving such releases,” the agency said in its response.
