ELECTION TORRANCE : Absentee Voters Are First Targets in Battle Over Acid Initiative

Two campaign committees have launched the opening salvos of what could turn into an absentee voter battle over the future use of hydrofluoric acid in the city of Torrance.

Two groups--Mobil Oil Corp.’s “No on Measure A” committee and City Councilman Dan Walker’s “Yes on Measure A” committee--this week sent out thousands of strikingly similar letters and absentee ballot applications, many of which landed in Torrance mailboxes at the same time.

Featuring bold black lettering with red highlights, both packets urged voters to apply for forms that would allow them to cast their vote in the city’s March 6 election by mail.

The focus of the two campaigns is ballot Measure A, sponsored by Walker. The initiative seeks to limit storage of hydrofluoric acid in Torrance to no more than 250 gallons, which would effectively force Mobil Oil to abandon use of the substance.

Walker sponsored the initiative after a series of accidents at the refinery raised concerns about Mobil’s safety procedures. A November, 1987, explosion and fire involving hydrofluoric acid focused attention on the highly lethal chemical, known as hydrogen fluoride in its gaseous state. Mobil officials say they have since tightened safety at the refinery and that Measure A is not necessary.

City Clerk John Bramhall said this is the first time in recent memory that any candidate or supporters of a ballot measure have vied for the attention of absentee voters.

Over the last 20 years, an average 15% of the city’s registered voters have cast a ballot, with fewer than one-tenth of those coming by mail. In the 1988 election, about 13% of the city’s 68,000 voters cast ballots.

Bramhall said it was too early to tell how the absentee ballot campaign would affect the turnout. Applications for voting by mail must be turned in to the city clerk’s office by Tuesday.

The letter accompanying the applications sent out by Mobil’s committee calls the initiative “a carelessly drafted measure (that) is narrow in scope.”

“Measure A is flawed in that its passage would not ban the use of hydrogen fluoride at the refinery,” the letter states. “Hydrogen fluoride could still be used at the refinery as long as the amount stored is restricted to 250 gallons of 70% solution . . . and can be brought in by truck or pipeline.”

In an interview, Mobil spokesman Thomas Collins acknowledged that Measure A would force the refinery to stop using hydrogen fluoride because its existing equipment cannot function with so little of the chemical, but he added, “I don’t know what the future technology will bring.”

“All we’re saying is this is not a vote to ban hydrogen fluoride,” Collins said. “We’re simply pointing out what Measure A says.”

He said the committee sent out more than 10,000 absentee voter applications, but declined to discuss exact figures or costs.

Walker’s letter urges voters to ask for a mail ballot “because voter turnout is expected to be low (and) the number of polling place locations has been reduced. Your polling place location on election day may be far away, and difficult to reach.”

Bramhall denied that he had reduced the number of polling places, saying he had only redistributed them. There will be 57 polling places, the same as in the 1988 election, he said.

Walker would not say how many letters his committee sent out or their cost.

However, he did say he believes the absentee ballots will play “a very small part in the campaign.”

“This just gives the person who may not go to the polls on Election Day the opportunity to vote,” he said. Noting that Mobil has said it expects to spend between half a million and a million dollars on the campaign, Walker added, “It’s hard to know what’s going to have an impact.”