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 12 refineries that emitted above the utmost level for benzene, 5 have been in Texas, four in Louisiana, and one each in Pennsylvania, Indiana and the US Virgin Islands, a brand new evaluation by the Environmental Integrity Venture revealed on Thursday.

Benzene is a identified carcinogen that's highly toxic and unstable when exposed to air. A lot of the excess emissions come through leaks from valves, tanks, pumps and other means which might be laborious to detect.

The Environmental Protection Company estimates 6.1 million folks within the US dwell within three miles of a refinery, with low-income individuals and folks of coloration represented at rates nearly twice that of the overall inhabitants.

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

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

The EPA requires facilities to take motion if 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, 12 months after 12 months, we actually must see enforcement from the EPA,” stated Eric Schaeffer, the manager director of the Environmental Integrity Undertaking, in a press conference. “You must begin 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 might trigger a danger of as much as one further most cancers case for every one million exposed, in line with the EPA. The upper the level of benzene, the upper the well being risk.

Marathon Petroleum’s Galveston Bay refinery in Texas City had the highest common net benzene levels in 2021, in line with the evaluation of the self-reported data. Roughly 37,000 people dwell within a three-mile radius of the refinery. Amongst them, 62% are people of shade and 47% are low-income.

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

“Folks living near these services have larger [exposure] to lifetime cancer danger than another a part of the state, but the regulatory agencies liable for protecting us continue to approve permits for these services,” Gutierrez said.

Environmental Integrity Mission notes that its evaluation did not measure concentrations of benzene within neighborhoods adjoining to refineries, and doesn't replicate the precise levels of benzene within the communities.

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