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

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

Among the many 12 refineries that emitted above the utmost degree for benzene, 5 have been in Texas, four in Louisiana, and one each in Pennsylvania, Indiana and the US Virgin Islands, a new analysis by the Environmental Integrity Undertaking revealed on Thursday.

Benzene is a identified carcinogen that is extremely toxic and risky when exposed to air. Much of the excess emissions come by means of leaks from valves, tanks, pumps and different means that are exhausting to detect.

The Environmental Protection Agency estimates 6.1 million individuals in the US dwell inside three miles of a refinery, with low-income folks and people of color represented at rates almost twice that of the overall population.

Out of 129 operable oil refineries in 2021, 118 reported benzene focus registered at or near the site, in any other case often called the fence-line.

Nearly 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 menace.

The EPA requires services to take action if they exceed a median 9 micrograms per cubic meter, or above “motion degree” emission of benzene.

“If [facilities] can’t get their benzene beneath the motion level, year after 12 months, we actually must see enforcement from the EPA,” mentioned Eric Schaeffer, the executive director of the Environmental Integrity Project, in a press conference. “It is advisable to begin paying penalties when your fence-line levels persist,” he added.

Lifetime exposure to benzene at ranges as little as 0.13 microgram per cubic meter may trigger a threat of as much as one extra most cancers case for every one million uncovered, according to the EPA. The higher the level of benzene, the higher the health danger.

Marathon Petroleum’s Galveston Bay refinery in Texas City had the very best average web benzene levels in 2021, according to the evaluation of the self-reported knowledge. Roughly 37,000 folks reside inside a three-mile radius of the refinery. Among them, 62% are individuals of coloration and 47% are low-income.

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

“Individuals living close to these services have larger [exposure] to lifetime cancer danger than another part of the state, but the regulatory agencies chargeable for protecting us proceed to approve permits for these facilities,” Gutierrez mentioned.

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

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