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

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

Among the many 12 refineries that emitted above the maximum stage for benzene, 5 were in Texas, four in Louisiana, and one every in Pennsylvania, Indiana and the US Virgin Islands, a brand new analysis by the Environmental Integrity Undertaking revealed on Thursday.

Benzene is a known carcinogen that's highly toxic and risky when exposed to air. A lot of the surplus emissions come via leaks from valves, tanks, pumps and different means which might be exhausting to detect.

The Environmental Safety Agency estimates 6.1 million people within the US stay inside three miles of a refinery, with low-income folks and folks of coloration represented at rates almost twice that of the overall population.

Out of 129 operable oil refineries in 2021, 118 reported benzene focus registered at or close to the location, otherwise often 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 threat.

The EPA requires amenities to take action 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 under the motion degree, year after 12 months, we really have to see enforcement from the EPA,” mentioned Eric Schaeffer, the chief director of the Environmental Integrity Project, in a press convention. “You might want 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 could cause a threat of up to one further most cancers case for every one million exposed, in keeping with the EPA. The upper the level of benzene, the higher the well being risk.

Marathon Petroleum’s Galveston Bay refinery in Texas Metropolis had the best average net benzene levels in 2021, in response to the analysis of the self-reported data. Roughly 37,000 individuals stay inside a three-mile radius of the refinery. Among them, 62% are people of colour and 47% are low-income.

“This evaluation supplies necessary insight into why the Houston area is an industrial cancer hotspot,” mentioned Leticia Gutierrez of advocacy group Air Alliance Houston, on the press convention.

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

Environmental Integrity Venture notes that its evaluation didn't measure concentrations of benzene inside neighborhoods adjacent to refineries, and does not replicate the precise levels of benzene inside the communities.

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