United States v. Exxon Mobil Corp., No. 18-55481 (9th Cir. 2019)
Annotate this CaseThe Ninth Circuit reversed the district court's order denying the Board's petition to enforce five requests issued by the Board in subpoenas following an explosion and chemical release at an ExxonMobile refinery. The panel held that, although the district court did an admirable job, it erred in finding these five requests unenforceable. In this case, the five subpoena requests relating to the alkylation unit and the modified hydrofluoric acid stored there were relevant to the February 2015 explosion and accidental release of modified hydrofluoric acid. The panel held that a review of the specific disputed requests confirmed that each sought material that might cast light on the Board's investigation into the February 2015 release.
Court Description: Subpoenas. The panel reversed the district court’s order denying the United States Chemical Safety and Hazard Board’s petition to enforce five requests, made pursuant to administrative subpoenas, issued against Exxon Mobil Corporation following an explosion and chemical release at an ExxonMobil refinery. The Board challenged only portions of five of the denied requests that related to the alkylation unit and the modified hydrofluoric acid stored there. The requests sought information that was relevant to the February 2015 accidental chemical release. The panel agreed with the Board’s position that its requests for information and documents related to the alkylation unit and the modified hydrofluoric acid stored there were related to its investigation because the risks of damage to the alkylation unit and an accidental release of modified hydrofluoric acid were among the “facts, conditions, and circumstances” of the February 2015 accidental release from the adjacent fluid catalytic cracking unit. The panel held that a review of the specific disputed requests confirmed that each sought material that might cast light on the Board’s investigation into the February 2015 UNITED STATES V. EXXON MOBIL CORP. 3 release. The panel reversed the challenged portions of the district court’s ruling that the subpoena requests were unenforceable and remanded for further proceedings.
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