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 average benzene emissions.

Among the many 12 refineries that emitted above the utmost degree for benzene, 5 were 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 is extremely poisonous and risky when exposed to air. Much of the surplus emissions come by means of leaks from valves, tanks, pumps and different means which are exhausting to detect.

The Environmental Safety Agency estimates 6.1 million people in the US dwell within three miles of a refinery, with low-income individuals and other people of shade represented at charges almost twice that of the general population.

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

Almost half of those refineries launched benzene ranges above 3 micrograms per cubic meter, which the Environmental Integrity Venture defines as a long-term potential health menace.

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

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

Lifetime publicity to benzene at ranges as low as 0.13 microgram per cubic meter could cause a danger of as much as one further cancer case for each a million exposed, in keeping with the EPA. The higher the level of benzene, the higher the well being risk.

Marathon Petroleum’s Galveston Bay refinery in Texas City had the highest average net benzene ranges in 2021, in response to the evaluation of the self-reported information. Roughly 37,000 individuals live inside a three-mile radius of the refinery. Among them, 62% are individuals of colour and 47% are low-income.

“This analysis provides important perception into why the Houston space is an industrial cancer hotspot,” said Leticia Gutierrez of advocacy group Air Alliance Houston, at the press conference.

“Individuals dwelling near these amenities have greater [exposure] to lifetime cancer danger than every other a part of the state, yet the regulatory businesses chargeable for defending us continue to approve permits for these services,” Gutierrez said.

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

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