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, four in Louisiana, and one every in Pennsylvania, Indiana and the US Virgin Islands, a brand new analysis by the Environmental Integrity Project revealed on Thursday.

Benzene is a known carcinogen that's highly toxic and risky when uncovered to air. A lot of the excess emissions come by way of leaks from valves, tanks, pumps and other means which are arduous to detect.

The Environmental Protection Company estimates 6.1 million folks within the US reside inside three miles of a refinery, with low-income folks and folks of shade represented at charges practically twice that of the overall inhabitants.

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

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

The EPA requires services to take motion in the event that 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 level, 12 months after 12 months, we actually need to see enforcement from the EPA,” mentioned Eric Schaeffer, the chief director of the Environmental Integrity Venture, in a press convention. “That you must start paying penalties when your fence-line levels persist,” he added.

Lifetime publicity to benzene at levels as little as 0.13 microgram per cubic meter may cause a danger of up to one further most cancers case for every a million exposed, in accordance with the EPA. The upper the level of benzene, the higher the health danger.

Marathon Petroleum’s Galveston Bay refinery in Texas Metropolis had the best average web benzene ranges in 2021, in keeping with the analysis of the self-reported knowledge. Roughly 37,000 individuals reside inside a three-mile radius of the refinery. Among them, 62% are folks of colour and 47% are low-income.

“This analysis provides essential perception into why the Houston area is an industrial cancer hotspot,” mentioned Leticia Gutierrez of advocacy group Air Alliance Houston, at the press convention.

“People dwelling close to these amenities have greater [exposure] to lifetime cancer threat than some other part of the state, yet the regulatory businesses responsible for protecting us proceed to approve permits for these amenities,” Gutierrez said.

Environmental Integrity Project notes that its analysis didn't measure concentrations of benzene within neighborhoods adjoining to refineries, and doesn't replicate the precise levels of benzene inside the communities.

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