Acid-ban bid spurs worry in California over high gas prices
(WorldNews Business)

The air-quality regulator for the Los Angeles area indicated this month that it is considering a ban on the use of hydrofluoric acid at both PBF Energy Inc.`s Torrance refinery and one owned by Valero Energy Corp. 8 miles away. The chemical, used by 35 percent of all U.S. refineries, increases 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 lives. Phasing out the acid could cause a surge in pump prices that dwarfs one seen in 2015, when an explosion at the Torrance refinery, then owned by Exxon Mobil Corp., raised California`s retail gasoline price by a dollar in three...