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

A dozen US oil refineries final 12 months exceeded the federal limit on average benzene emissions.

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

Benzene is a known carcinogen that is extremely poisonous and volatile when uncovered to air. Much of the surplus emissions come by way of leaks from valves, tanks, pumps and different means which might be arduous to detect.

The Environmental Protection Agency estimates 6.1 million individuals in the US live inside three miles of a refinery, with low-income folks and folks of coloration represented at charges nearly twice that of the overall population.

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

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

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

“If [facilities] can’t get their benzene beneath the action degree, 12 months after year, we actually must see enforcement from the EPA,” said Eric Schaeffer, the manager director of the Environmental Integrity Challenge, 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 may cause a danger of as much as one extra most cancers case for every a million exposed, according to the EPA. The upper the extent of benzene, the upper the well being risk.

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

“This analysis provides important perception into why the Houston area is an industrial cancer hotspot,” mentioned Leticia Gutierrez of advocacy group Air Alliance Houston, on the press convention.

“People living close to these amenities have greater [exposure] to lifetime cancer danger than every other part of the state, yet the regulatory businesses responsible for defending us proceed to approve permits for these facilities,” Gutierrez said.

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

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