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 degree for benzene, 5 had been in Texas, 4 in Louisiana, and one every in Pennsylvania, Indiana and the US Virgin Islands, a new analysis by the Environmental Integrity Undertaking revealed on Thursday.

Benzene is a known carcinogen that is extremely toxic and risky when uncovered to air. A lot of the excess emissions come via leaks from valves, tanks, pumps and different means which might be exhausting to detect.

The Environmental Safety Agency estimates 6.1 million folks within the US reside inside three miles of a refinery, with low-income people and folks of shade represented at charges practically twice that of the general population.

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

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

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

“If [facilities] can’t get their benzene beneath the action level, 12 months after year, we actually must see enforcement from the EPA,” stated Eric Schaeffer, the executive director of the Environmental Integrity Challenge, in a press conference. “You want to start paying penalties when your fence-line ranges persist,” he added.

Lifetime publicity to benzene at ranges as little as 0.13 microgram per cubic meter might cause a threat of as much as one extra most cancers case for every one million uncovered, in keeping with the EPA. The higher the extent of benzene, the higher the health risk.

Marathon Petroleum’s Galveston Bay refinery in Texas Metropolis had the very best average internet benzene levels in 2021, in line with the analysis of the self-reported knowledge. Roughly 37,000 people stay inside a three-mile radius of the refinery. Amongst them, 62% are individuals of coloration and 47% are low-income.

“This evaluation provides essential perception into why the Houston space is an industrial most cancers hotspot,” said Leticia Gutierrez of advocacy group Air Alliance Houston, at the press conference.

“People living close to these facilities have greater [exposure] to lifetime cancer risk than any other part of the state, but the regulatory companies chargeable for protecting us continue to approve permits for these services,” Gutierrez stated.

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

Marathon Petroleum and the EPA didn't instantly respond to a request for remark.