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 many 12 refineries that emitted above the maximum stage for benzene, 5 had been in Texas, four in Louisiana, and one each in Pennsylvania, Indiana and the US Virgin Islands, a new evaluation by the Environmental Integrity Project revealed on Thursday.

Benzene is a identified carcinogen that is highly poisonous and unstable when uncovered to air. Much of the surplus emissions come by means of leaks from valves, tanks, pumps and different means that are onerous to detect.

The Environmental Safety Agency estimates 6.1 million folks in the US live within three miles of a refinery, with low-income folks and folks of colour represented at rates nearly twice that of the general inhabitants.

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

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

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

“If [facilities] can’t get their benzene below the motion level, yr after 12 months, we really have to see enforcement from the EPA,” said Eric Schaeffer, the executive director of the Environmental Integrity Challenge, in a press convention. “You want to begin paying penalties when your fence-line levels persist,” he added.

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

Marathon Petroleum’s Galveston Bay refinery in Texas City had the very best common web benzene levels in 2021, according to the analysis of the self-reported information. Roughly 37,000 folks stay inside a three-mile radius of the refinery. Amongst them, 62% are individuals of color and 47% are low-income.

“This analysis supplies vital insight into why the Houston area is an industrial most cancers hotspot,” said Leticia Gutierrez of advocacy group Air Alliance Houston, at the press conference.

“Individuals dwelling close to these facilities have larger [exposure] to lifetime most cancers threat than another part of the state, yet the regulatory companies responsible for defending us continue to approve permits for these services,” Gutierrez said.

Environmental Integrity Undertaking notes that its analysis did not measure concentrations of benzene inside neighborhoods adjacent to refineries, and doesn't reflect the precise levels of benzene within the communities.

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