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

A dozen US oil refineries last year exceeded the federal restrict on common benzene emissions.

Among the many 12 refineries that emitted above the utmost level for benzene, 5 have been in Texas, 4 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's extremely poisonous and volatile when uncovered to air. Much of the surplus emissions come by way of leaks from valves, tanks, pumps and other means which can be laborious to detect.

The Environmental Protection Company estimates 6.1 million people within the US live within three miles of a refinery, with low-income individuals and folks of shade represented at rates practically twice that of the general population.

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

Practically half of these refineries released benzene ranges above 3 micrograms per cubic meter, which the Environmental Integrity Undertaking defines as a long-term potential well being risk.

The EPA requires amenities to take action 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 stage, 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 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 risk of as much as one extra cancer case for each one million exposed, according to 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 very best average web benzene levels in 2021, in response to the analysis of the self-reported knowledge. Roughly 37,000 people reside inside a three-mile radius of the refinery. Amongst them, 62% are folks of color and 47% are low-income.

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

“People dwelling near these amenities have better [exposure] to lifetime cancer danger than some other part of the state, yet the regulatory agencies liable for protecting us proceed to approve permits for these facilities,” Gutierrez said.

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

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