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 level for benzene, 5 had been in Texas, 4 in Louisiana, and one every in Pennsylvania, Indiana and the US Virgin Islands, a brand new analysis by the Environmental Integrity Venture revealed on Thursday.

Benzene is a known carcinogen that is highly toxic and unstable when uncovered to air. Much of the excess emissions come by way of leaks from valves, tanks, pumps and different means which are arduous to detect.

The Environmental Protection Company estimates 6.1 million people within the US live within three miles of a refinery, with low-income folks and people of color represented at rates practically twice that of the general population.

Out of 129 operable oil refineries in 2021, 118 reported benzene concentration registered at or near the site, in any other case known as the fence-line.

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

The EPA requires facilities to take action if they exceed a median 9 micrograms per cubic meter, or above “action degree” emission of benzene.

“If [facilities] can’t get their benzene beneath the action stage, yr after year, we really need to see enforcement from the EPA,” mentioned Eric Schaeffer, the chief director of the Environmental Integrity Venture, in a press conference. “You have to begin paying penalties when your fence-line ranges persist,” he added.

Lifetime publicity to benzene at ranges as low as 0.13 microgram per cubic meter might trigger a threat of up to one further cancer case for every a million uncovered, in keeping with the EPA. The higher the extent of benzene, the upper the health threat.

Marathon Petroleum’s Galveston Bay refinery in Texas City had the best common internet benzene ranges in 2021, in keeping 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 people of color and 47% are low-income.

“This evaluation offers vital insight into why the Houston space is an industrial cancer hotspot,” said Leticia Gutierrez of advocacy group Air Alliance Houston, at the press conference.

“Individuals living near these amenities have larger [exposure] to lifetime cancer threat than some other a part of the state, yet the regulatory businesses chargeable for protecting us proceed to approve permits for these services,” Gutierrez said.

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

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