US oil refineries spewing cancer-causing benzene into communities, report finds | Pollution

A dozen US oil refineries last yr exceeded the federal restrict on common benzene emissions.

Among the 12 refineries that emitted above the utmost degree for benzene, 5 were in Texas, 4 in Louisiana, and one every in Pennsylvania, Indiana and the US Virgin Islands, a new analysis by the Environmental Integrity Project revealed on Thursday.

Benzene is a known carcinogen that is highly poisonous and volatile when uncovered to air. A lot of the surplus emissions come by way of leaks from valves, tanks, pumps and other means which can be exhausting to detect.

The Environmental Safety Agency estimates 6.1 million folks in the US reside inside three miles of a refinery, with low-income folks and people of color represented at rates practically twice that of the general inhabitants.

Out of 129 operable oil refineries in 2021, 118 reported benzene concentration registered at or close to the site, otherwise known as the fence-line.

Almost half of these refineries launched benzene levels above 3 micrograms per cubic meter, which the Environmental Integrity Undertaking defines as a long-term potential well being menace.

The EPA requires facilities to take motion in the event that they exceed a mean 9 micrograms per cubic meter, or above “action stage” emission of benzene.

“If [facilities] can’t get their benzene beneath the action degree, year after 12 months, we actually must see enforcement from the EPA,” mentioned Eric Schaeffer, the manager director of the Environmental Integrity Mission, in a press conference. “It is advisable to begin paying penalties when your fence-line levels persist,” he added.

Lifetime publicity to benzene at levels as little as 0.13 microgram per cubic meter might cause a risk of as much as one extra cancer case for every one million uncovered, based on the EPA. The higher the level of benzene, the higher the well being danger.

Marathon Petroleum’s Galveston Bay refinery in Texas Metropolis had the very best common web benzene levels in 2021, in keeping with the evaluation of the self-reported information. Roughly 37,000 folks stay inside a three-mile radius of the refinery. Among them, 62% are individuals of color and 47% are low-income.

“This evaluation supplies important perception into why the Houston space is an industrial cancer hotspot,” stated Leticia Gutierrez of advocacy group Air Alliance Houston, at the press conference.

“Folks dwelling close to these facilities have larger [exposure] to lifetime cancer danger than another part of the state, but the regulatory companies liable for protecting us continue to approve permits for these services,” Gutierrez said.

Environmental Integrity Mission notes that its analysis did not measure concentrations of benzene within neighborhoods adjoining to refineries, and doesn't mirror the precise levels of benzene inside the communities.

Marathon Petroleum and the EPA did not immediately respond to a request for comment.