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

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

Among the 12 refineries that emitted above the maximum stage for benzene, 5 were in Texas, 4 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 recognized carcinogen that's extremely poisonous and volatile when uncovered to air. A lot of the surplus emissions come via leaks from valves, tanks, pumps and different means that are exhausting to detect.

The Environmental Safety Agency estimates 6.1 million people within the US dwell inside three miles of a refinery, with low-income individuals and people of coloration represented at charges practically twice that of the final population.

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

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

The EPA requires facilities to take motion in the event that they exceed a median 9 micrograms per cubic meter, or above “motion stage” emission of benzene.

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

Lifetime publicity to benzene at ranges as little as 0.13 microgram per cubic meter may cause a danger of up to one additional cancer case for each a million exposed, based on the EPA. The upper the level of benzene, the upper the health threat.

Marathon Petroleum’s Galveston Bay refinery in Texas Metropolis had the best average net benzene ranges in 2021, in line with the evaluation of the self-reported knowledge. Roughly 37,000 individuals stay inside a three-mile radius of the refinery. Amongst them, 62% are people of coloration and 47% are low-income.

“This analysis offers important insight into why the Houston area is an industrial most cancers hotspot,” mentioned Leticia Gutierrez of advocacy group Air Alliance Houston, at the press convention.

“Individuals dwelling close to these services have better [exposure] to lifetime most cancers risk than another part of the state, yet the regulatory companies answerable for defending us continue to approve permits for these amenities,” Gutierrez said.

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

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