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 average benzene emissions.

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

Benzene is a known carcinogen that is highly toxic and volatile when exposed to air. A lot of the excess emissions come by means of leaks from valves, tanks, pumps and different means which can be onerous to detect.

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

Out of 129 operable oil refineries in 2021, 118 reported benzene concentration registered at or close to the location, otherwise often known as the fence-line.

Almost half of those refineries released benzene ranges above 3 micrograms per cubic meter, which the Environmental Integrity Mission defines as a long-term potential well being menace.

The EPA requires amenities to take motion in the event that they exceed a mean 9 micrograms per cubic meter, or above “motion level” emission of benzene.

“If [facilities] can’t get their benzene below the action degree, year after 12 months, we actually must see enforcement from the EPA,” stated Eric Schaeffer, the chief director of the Environmental Integrity Challenge, in a press conference. “It's good to start paying penalties when your fence-line levels persist,” he added.

Lifetime publicity to benzene at ranges as low as 0.13 microgram per cubic meter might cause a risk of up to one further cancer case for each one million uncovered, in response to the EPA. The upper the extent of benzene, the higher the well being danger.

Marathon Petroleum’s Galveston Bay refinery in Texas City had the very best common web benzene ranges in 2021, in response to the evaluation of the self-reported data. Roughly 37,000 individuals reside inside a three-mile radius of the refinery. Amongst them, 62% are individuals of color and 47% are low-income.

“This evaluation provides important insight into why the Houston space is an industrial most cancers hotspot,” stated Leticia Gutierrez of advocacy group Air Alliance Houston, on the press conference.

“Individuals dwelling near these amenities have greater [exposure] to lifetime cancer risk than some other a part of the state, but the regulatory companies chargeable for defending us proceed to approve permits for these facilities,” Gutierrez mentioned.

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

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