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

A dozen US oil refineries final 12 months exceeded the federal limit on common benzene emissions.

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

Benzene is a known carcinogen that's extremely poisonous and unstable when exposed to air. A lot of the surplus emissions come by means of leaks from valves, tanks, pumps and different means which can be exhausting to detect.

The Environmental Safety Company estimates 6.1 million individuals within the US stay inside three miles of a refinery, with low-income people and other people of coloration represented at charges nearly twice that of the overall population.

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

Nearly half of these refineries released benzene ranges above 3 micrograms per cubic meter, which the Environmental Integrity Mission defines as a long-term potential health risk.

The EPA requires services to take action in the event that they exceed an average 9 micrograms per cubic meter, or above “motion stage” emission of benzene.

“If [facilities] can’t get their benzene beneath the motion level, yr after yr, we really have to see enforcement from the EPA,” mentioned Eric Schaeffer, the executive director of the Environmental Integrity Project, in a press convention. “You could start paying penalties when your fence-line ranges persist,” he added.

Lifetime publicity to benzene at levels as low as 0.13 microgram per cubic meter could trigger a risk of as much as one further cancer case for each one million uncovered, in response to the EPA. The higher the extent of benzene, the upper the health danger.

Marathon Petroleum’s Galveston Bay refinery in Texas Metropolis had the highest average net benzene levels in 2021, based on the evaluation of the self-reported knowledge. Roughly 37,000 individuals live inside a three-mile radius of the refinery. Among them, 62% are individuals of colour and 47% are low-income.

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

“Folks dwelling near these facilities have greater [exposure] to lifetime cancer risk than some other part of the state, yet the regulatory agencies answerable for protecting us proceed to approve permits for these services,” Gutierrez said.

Environmental Integrity Project notes that its analysis did not measure concentrations of benzene inside neighborhoods adjacent to refineries, and doesn't mirror the actual levels of benzene throughout the communities.

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