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

A dozen US oil refineries final yr exceeded the federal restrict on average benzene emissions.

Among the 12 refineries that emitted above the maximum degree for benzene, five were in Texas, four in Louisiana, and one each in Pennsylvania, Indiana and the US Virgin Islands, a new evaluation by the Environmental Integrity Undertaking revealed on Thursday.

Benzene is a recognized carcinogen that is extremely toxic and risky when exposed to air. A lot of the excess emissions come by means of leaks from valves, tanks, pumps and different means that are hard to detect.

The Environmental Safety Company estimates 6.1 million folks in the US live inside three miles of a refinery, with low-income people and people of color represented at rates almost twice that of the final inhabitants.

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

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

The EPA requires amenities to take action in the event that they exceed a median 9 micrograms per cubic meter, or above “motion level” emission of benzene.

“If [facilities] can’t get their benzene beneath the motion degree, year after year, we actually need to see enforcement from the EPA,” said Eric Schaeffer, the manager director of the Environmental Integrity Project, in a press convention. “It is advisable begin paying penalties when your fence-line levels persist,” he added.

Lifetime publicity to benzene at ranges as low as 0.13 microgram per cubic meter could cause a threat of up to one extra most cancers case for each one million exposed, in line with the EPA. The higher the extent of benzene, the higher the well being threat.

Marathon Petroleum’s Galveston Bay refinery in Texas Metropolis had the very best average web benzene ranges in 2021, based on the evaluation of the self-reported data. Roughly 37,000 people stay within a three-mile radius of the refinery. Among them, 62% are folks of color and 47% are low-income.

“This evaluation provides necessary insight into why the Houston space is an industrial most cancers hotspot,” mentioned Leticia Gutierrez of advocacy group Air Alliance Houston, on the press conference.

“Folks living near these facilities have larger [exposure] to lifetime cancer risk than every other part of the state, but the regulatory businesses chargeable for protecting us proceed to approve permits for these amenities,” Gutierrez stated.

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

Marathon Petroleum and the EPA didn't immediately respond to a request for remark.