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

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

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

Benzene is a identified carcinogen that's highly poisonous and risky when exposed to air. A lot of the excess emissions come by leaks from valves, tanks, pumps and other means which might be laborious to detect.

The Environmental Protection Agency estimates 6.1 million folks in the US dwell within three miles of a refinery, with low-income folks and folks of color represented at charges practically twice that of the general inhabitants.

Out of 129 operable oil refineries in 2021, 118 reported benzene focus registered at or near the positioning, otherwise generally known as the fence-line.

Practically half of those refineries released benzene levels above 3 micrograms per cubic meter, which the Environmental Integrity Venture defines as a long-term potential well being threat.

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

“If [facilities] can’t get their benzene beneath the motion stage, 12 months after year, we really must see enforcement from the EPA,” stated Eric Schaeffer, the manager director of the Environmental Integrity Undertaking, in a press conference. “It is advisable start paying penalties when your fence-line ranges persist,” he added.

Lifetime exposure to benzene at levels as little as 0.13 microgram per cubic meter might cause a risk of up to one extra most cancers case for every one million uncovered, in line with the EPA. The higher the extent of benzene, the higher the well being danger.

Marathon Petroleum’s Galveston Bay refinery in Texas City had the highest common web benzene levels in 2021, in response to the analysis of the self-reported knowledge. Roughly 37,000 folks reside inside a three-mile radius of the refinery. Among them, 62% are folks of coloration and 47% are low-income.

“This evaluation gives vital perception into why the Houston area is an industrial most cancers hotspot,” said Leticia Gutierrez of advocacy group Air Alliance Houston, at the press convention.

“People living close to these facilities have better [exposure] to lifetime cancer danger than another part of the state, yet the regulatory companies responsible for defending us continue to approve permits for these facilities,” Gutierrez said.

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

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