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

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

Among the many 12 refineries that emitted above the utmost stage for benzene, 5 were in Texas, four in Louisiana, and one each in Pennsylvania, Indiana and the US Virgin Islands, a new evaluation by the Environmental Integrity Venture revealed on Thursday.

Benzene is a recognized carcinogen that is extremely poisonous and risky when uncovered to air. Much of the excess emissions come by means of leaks from valves, tanks, pumps and different means which can be laborious to detect.

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

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

Almost 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 risk.

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

“If [facilities] can’t get their benzene beneath the action degree, yr after 12 months, we really have to see enforcement from the EPA,” said Eric Schaeffer, the manager director of the Environmental Integrity Challenge, in a press conference. “You should 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 might trigger a risk of up to one extra cancer case for each one million exposed, in response to the EPA. The upper the extent of benzene, the higher the health threat.

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

“This evaluation gives essential insight into why the Houston area is an industrial most cancers hotspot,” stated Leticia Gutierrez of advocacy group Air Alliance Houston, at the press conference.

“People residing close to these amenities have greater [exposure] to lifetime cancer risk than some other part of the state, but the regulatory companies liable for protecting us continue to approve permits for these facilities,” Gutierrez said.

Environmental Integrity Undertaking notes that its evaluation did not measure concentrations of benzene inside neighborhoods adjacent to refineries, and does not reflect the actual ranges of benzene inside the communities.

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