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

A dozen US oil refineries final yr exceeded the federal restrict on average benzene emissions.

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

Benzene is a recognized carcinogen that is extremely poisonous and volatile when uncovered to air. Much of the surplus emissions come through leaks from valves, tanks, pumps and different means which can be onerous to detect.

The Environmental Safety Company estimates 6.1 million folks within the US reside within three miles of a refinery, with low-income people and other people of color represented at rates almost twice that of the overall inhabitants.

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

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

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

“If [facilities] can’t get their benzene under the action stage, year after year, we really have to see enforcement from the EPA,” stated Eric Schaeffer, the executive director of the Environmental Integrity Mission, in a press conference. “You could start 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 may trigger a threat of up to one further most cancers case for each one million uncovered, according to the EPA. The higher the extent of benzene, the upper the health danger.

Marathon Petroleum’s Galveston Bay refinery in Texas Metropolis had the best common net benzene levels in 2021, in line with the analysis of the self-reported knowledge. Roughly 37,000 individuals reside inside a three-mile radius of the refinery. Among them, 62% are folks of shade and 47% are low-income.

“This analysis offers important perception into why the Houston space is an industrial most cancers hotspot,” stated Leticia Gutierrez of advocacy group Air Alliance Houston, at the press conference.

“Folks dwelling close to these services have better [exposure] to lifetime most cancers threat than some other part of the state, but the regulatory agencies responsible for protecting us proceed to approve permits for these facilities,” Gutierrez said.

Environmental Integrity Mission notes that its evaluation did not measure concentrations of benzene inside neighborhoods adjacent to refineries, and doesn't mirror the actual ranges of benzene inside the communities.

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