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 common benzene emissions.

Among the 12 refineries that emitted above the utmost degree for benzene, five had been in Texas, 4 in Louisiana, and one each in Pennsylvania, Indiana and the US Virgin Islands, a brand new evaluation by the Environmental Integrity Undertaking revealed on Thursday.

Benzene is a identified carcinogen that's highly poisonous and volatile when exposed to air. Much of the excess emissions come by way of leaks from valves, tanks, pumps and different means which can be onerous to detect.

The Environmental Protection Agency estimates 6.1 million individuals within the US stay within three miles of a refinery, with low-income people and people of color represented at charges nearly twice that of the final inhabitants.

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

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

The EPA requires amenities to take motion 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 below the action degree, yr after yr, we actually have to see enforcement from the EPA,” said Eric Schaeffer, the chief director of the Environmental Integrity Challenge, in a press convention. “You need to begin 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 may trigger a danger of as much as one extra cancer case for each a million exposed, in line with the EPA. The higher the extent of benzene, the upper the well being danger.

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

“This evaluation supplies important insight into why the Houston space is an industrial cancer hotspot,” mentioned Leticia Gutierrez of advocacy group Air Alliance Houston, at the press convention.

“Individuals dwelling close to these facilities have larger [exposure] to lifetime most cancers threat than every other part of the state, yet the regulatory agencies accountable for protecting us proceed to approve permits for these facilities,” Gutierrez said.

Environmental Integrity Mission notes that its evaluation didn't measure concentrations of benzene within neighborhoods adjoining to refineries, and doesn't reflect the precise ranges of benzene throughout the communities.

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