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 many 12 refineries that emitted above the utmost level for benzene, five had been in Texas, four in Louisiana, and one every in Pennsylvania, Indiana and the US Virgin Islands, a brand new analysis by the Environmental Integrity Challenge revealed on Thursday.

Benzene is a identified carcinogen that is extremely poisonous and volatile when uncovered to air. Much of the surplus emissions come by way of leaks from valves, tanks, pumps and other means which are arduous to detect.

The Environmental Protection Agency estimates 6.1 million folks in the US reside inside three miles of a refinery, with low-income individuals and folks of coloration represented at charges nearly twice that of the final population.

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

Nearly half of these refineries launched benzene levels above 3 micrograms per cubic meter, which the Environmental Integrity Challenge 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 level, year after 12 months, we actually must see enforcement from the EPA,” mentioned Eric Schaeffer, the manager director of the Environmental Integrity Venture, in a press conference. “You need to begin paying penalties when your fence-line levels persist,” he added.

Lifetime publicity to benzene at ranges as little as 0.13 microgram per cubic meter may cause a threat of up to one additional cancer case for every a million uncovered, in accordance with the EPA. The upper the extent of benzene, the higher the well being risk.

Marathon Petroleum’s Galveston Bay refinery in Texas Metropolis had the best common web benzene ranges in 2021, in response to the analysis of the self-reported data. Roughly 37,000 people live inside a three-mile radius of the refinery. Among them, 62% are people of color and 47% are low-income.

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

“People living near these amenities have better [exposure] to lifetime most cancers threat than another a part of the state, yet the regulatory companies liable for defending us continue to approve permits for these services,” Gutierrez stated.

Environmental Integrity Challenge notes that its evaluation did not measure concentrations of benzene inside neighborhoods adjacent to refineries, and does not mirror the precise levels of benzene within the communities.

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