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

A dozen US oil refineries final yr exceeded the federal limit on average benzene emissions.

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

Benzene is a known carcinogen that's highly poisonous and volatile when uncovered to air. A lot of the surplus emissions come via leaks from valves, tanks, pumps and different means that are hard to detect.

The Environmental Safety Agency estimates 6.1 million folks within the US reside within three miles of a refinery, with low-income people and folks of color represented at charges almost twice that of the general population.

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

Nearly half of those refineries released benzene ranges above 3 micrograms per cubic meter, which the Environmental Integrity Challenge defines as a long-term potential health risk.

The EPA requires amenities to take motion if 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 stage, yr after yr, we really need to see enforcement from the EPA,” stated Eric Schaeffer, the manager director of the Environmental Integrity Venture, in a press convention. “It's essential start paying penalties when your fence-line ranges persist,” he added.

Lifetime exposure to benzene at levels as low as 0.13 microgram per cubic meter could cause a threat of up to one further most cancers case for each one million uncovered, in keeping with the EPA. The upper the extent of benzene, the higher the health danger.

Marathon Petroleum’s Galveston Bay refinery in Texas City had the highest average web benzene ranges in 2021, in keeping with the evaluation of the self-reported knowledge. Roughly 37,000 folks dwell inside a three-mile radius of the refinery. Amongst them, 62% are individuals of shade and 47% are low-income.

“This evaluation supplies necessary perception into why the Houston space is an industrial most cancers hotspot,” said Leticia Gutierrez of advocacy group Air Alliance Houston, on the press conference.

“Folks dwelling near these services have better [exposure] to lifetime cancer threat than some other part of the state, yet the regulatory agencies liable for protecting us proceed to approve permits for these facilities,” Gutierrez mentioned.

Environmental Integrity Challenge notes that its evaluation did not measure concentrations of benzene within neighborhoods adjoining to refineries, and doesn't reflect the precise ranges of benzene within the communities.

Marathon Petroleum and the EPA did not instantly reply to a request for remark.