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

A dozen US oil refineries final year exceeded the federal restrict on average benzene emissions.

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

Benzene is a identified carcinogen that is highly toxic and volatile when exposed to air. A lot of the excess emissions come by means of leaks from valves, tanks, pumps and different means which might be arduous to detect.

The Environmental Safety Agency estimates 6.1 million individuals in the US live within three miles of a refinery, with low-income people and folks of colour represented at charges almost twice that of the overall population.

Out of 129 operable oil refineries in 2021, 118 reported benzene focus registered at or near the location, in any other case known as the fence-line.

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

The EPA requires amenities to take motion if they exceed a median 9 micrograms per cubic meter, or above “motion degree” emission of benzene.

“If [facilities] can’t get their benzene beneath the motion stage, year after year, we actually must see enforcement from the EPA,” stated Eric Schaeffer, the manager director of the Environmental Integrity Undertaking, in a press conference. “You want to begin paying penalties when your fence-line ranges persist,” he added.

Lifetime publicity to benzene at levels as little as 0.13 microgram per cubic meter may cause a threat of as much as one extra most cancers case for each a million exposed, according to the EPA. The higher the extent of benzene, the higher the health risk.

Marathon Petroleum’s Galveston Bay refinery in Texas City had the best common net benzene ranges in 2021, in accordance with the evaluation of the self-reported information. Roughly 37,000 individuals dwell within a three-mile radius of the refinery. Amongst them, 62% are individuals of colour and 47% are low-income.

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

“People living close to these amenities have greater [exposure] to lifetime cancer threat than any other part of the state, yet the regulatory companies accountable for defending us continue to approve permits for these facilities,” Gutierrez mentioned.

Environmental Integrity Challenge notes that its evaluation didn't measure concentrations of benzene inside neighborhoods adjoining to refineries, and does not reflect the precise ranges of benzene throughout the communities.

Marathon Petroleum and the EPA didn't immediately reply to a request for comment.