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

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

Among the 12 refineries that emitted above the maximum degree 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 Undertaking revealed on Thursday.

Benzene is a recognized carcinogen that's highly toxic and risky when exposed to air. A lot of the excess emissions come via leaks from valves, tanks, pumps and other means which can be arduous to detect.

The Environmental Safety Agency estimates 6.1 million individuals within the US stay inside three miles of a refinery, with low-income individuals and people of coloration represented at charges almost twice that of the general inhabitants.

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

Nearly half of those refineries launched benzene levels above 3 micrograms per cubic meter, which the Environmental Integrity Venture defines as a long-term potential health menace.

The EPA requires facilities 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 below the motion stage, yr after year, we really need to see enforcement from the EPA,” said Eric Schaeffer, the manager director of the Environmental Integrity Challenge, in a press conference. “You might want to begin paying penalties when your fence-line levels persist,” he added.

Lifetime exposure to benzene at levels as little as 0.13 microgram per cubic meter may cause a risk of as much as one extra most cancers case for each one million uncovered, in line with the EPA. The upper the extent of benzene, the upper the well being danger.

Marathon Petroleum’s Galveston Bay refinery in Texas City had the best average web benzene levels in 2021, in response to the analysis of the self-reported information. Roughly 37,000 individuals live within a three-mile radius of the refinery. Amongst them, 62% are people of shade and 47% are low-income.

“This analysis supplies essential perception into why the Houston space is an industrial most cancers hotspot,” stated Leticia Gutierrez of advocacy group Air Alliance Houston, on the press convention.

“Folks dwelling near these facilities have greater [exposure] to lifetime cancer threat than some other part of the state, yet the regulatory companies accountable for protecting us proceed to approve permits for these facilities,” Gutierrez stated.

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

Marathon Petroleum and the EPA did not instantly respond to a request for comment.