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

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

Among the 12 refineries that emitted above the maximum level for benzene, 5 had been in Texas, 4 in Louisiana, and one every in Pennsylvania, Indiana and the US Virgin Islands, a new evaluation by the Environmental Integrity Project revealed on Thursday.

Benzene is a recognized carcinogen that's highly toxic and risky when uncovered to air. A lot of the excess emissions come by way of leaks from valves, tanks, pumps and other means which can be onerous to detect.

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

Out of 129 operable oil refineries in 2021, 118 reported benzene focus registered at or near the positioning, in any other case referred to as the fence-line.

Practically half of those refineries released benzene levels 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 motion if they exceed a mean 9 micrograms per cubic meter, or above “action degree” emission of benzene.

“If [facilities] can’t get their benzene under the action degree, yr after 12 months, we really need to see enforcement from the EPA,” stated Eric Schaeffer, the manager director of the Environmental Integrity Challenge, in a press conference. “You should begin paying penalties when your fence-line levels persist,” he added.

Lifetime exposure to benzene at ranges as low as 0.13 microgram per cubic meter might cause a threat of as much as one extra most cancers case for every a million exposed, in line with the EPA. The higher the extent of benzene, the upper the well being risk.

Marathon Petroleum’s Galveston Bay refinery in Texas City had the highest average web benzene ranges in 2021, in accordance with the analysis of the self-reported information. Roughly 37,000 individuals stay inside a three-mile radius of the refinery. Amongst them, 62% are individuals of coloration and 47% are low-income.

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

“People living close to these services have greater [exposure] to lifetime most cancers danger than some other a part of the state, but the regulatory agencies liable for protecting us proceed to approve permits for these facilities,” Gutierrez mentioned.

Environmental Integrity Mission notes that its evaluation didn't measure concentrations of benzene inside neighborhoods adjacent to refineries, and doesn't reflect the precise ranges of benzene throughout the communities.

Marathon Petroleum and the EPA did not instantly respond to a request for remark.