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

A dozen US oil refineries last 12 months exceeded the federal limit on common benzene emissions.

Among the 12 refineries that emitted above the utmost degree for benzene, five have been in Texas, 4 in Louisiana, and one every in Pennsylvania, Indiana and the US Virgin Islands, a new analysis by the Environmental Integrity Challenge revealed on Thursday.

Benzene is a identified carcinogen that's highly toxic and volatile when exposed to air. A lot of the excess emissions come by means of leaks from valves, tanks, pumps and other means which are hard to detect.

The Environmental Safety Agency estimates 6.1 million people within the US stay inside three miles of a refinery, with low-income folks and folks of colour represented at rates nearly twice that of the general population.

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

Practically half of these refineries launched benzene levels above 3 micrograms per cubic meter, which the Environmental Integrity Project defines as a long-term potential well being threat.

The EPA requires amenities to take action in the event that they exceed a mean 9 micrograms per cubic meter, or above “action degree” emission of benzene.

“If [facilities] can’t get their benzene below the motion stage, 12 months after yr, we really must see enforcement from the EPA,” stated Eric Schaeffer, the executive director of the Environmental Integrity Venture, in a press conference. “It is advisable begin paying penalties when your fence-line levels persist,” he added.

Lifetime publicity to benzene at ranges as little as 0.13 microgram per cubic meter could cause a threat of as much as one additional cancer case for every one million uncovered, in keeping with the EPA. The upper the level of benzene, the upper the well being risk.

Marathon Petroleum’s Galveston Bay refinery in Texas Metropolis had the very best average web benzene ranges in 2021, based on the analysis of the self-reported knowledge. Roughly 37,000 people reside inside a three-mile radius of the refinery. Amongst them, 62% are people of coloration and 47% are low-income.

“This evaluation provides vital perception into why the Houston area is an industrial cancer hotspot,” stated Leticia Gutierrez of advocacy group Air Alliance Houston, at the press conference.

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

Environmental Integrity Project notes that its evaluation didn't measure concentrations of benzene inside neighborhoods adjacent to refineries, and does not replicate the actual levels of benzene throughout the communities.

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