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

A dozen US oil refineries last 12 months exceeded the federal restrict on common benzene emissions.

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

Benzene is a known carcinogen that is extremely poisonous and volatile when exposed to air. Much of the excess emissions come by leaks from valves, tanks, pumps and other means that are arduous to detect.

The Environmental Protection Company estimates 6.1 million people within the US dwell within three miles of a refinery, with low-income people and other people of color represented at charges practically twice that of the overall population.

Out of 129 operable oil refineries in 2021, 118 reported benzene focus registered at or close to the site, otherwise often called the fence-line.

Nearly half of these 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 median 9 micrograms per cubic meter, or above “action stage” emission of benzene.

“If [facilities] can’t get their benzene under the action level, yr after yr, we really must see enforcement from the EPA,” stated Eric Schaeffer, the executive director of the Environmental Integrity Mission, in a press conference. “You must start 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 might cause a danger of as much as one additional most cancers case for each one million exposed, in accordance with the EPA. The upper the level of benzene, the higher the health threat.

Marathon Petroleum’s Galveston Bay refinery in Texas City had the very best common internet benzene levels in 2021, in line with the analysis of the self-reported information. Roughly 37,000 folks live within a three-mile radius of the refinery. Among them, 62% are folks of color and 47% are low-income.

“This analysis provides essential perception into why the Houston area is an industrial cancer hotspot,” mentioned Leticia Gutierrez of advocacy group Air Alliance Houston, on the press conference.

“People living near these amenities have better [exposure] to lifetime cancer danger than another a part of the state, but the regulatory businesses chargeable for defending us continue to approve permits for these facilities,” Gutierrez said.

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

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