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

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

Among the 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 analysis by the Environmental Integrity Undertaking revealed on Thursday.

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

The Environmental Protection Company estimates 6.1 million individuals in the US live inside three miles of a refinery, with low-income individuals and people of coloration 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 close to the positioning, in any other case known as the fence-line.

Nearly half of those refineries launched benzene levels above 3 micrograms per cubic meter, which the Environmental Integrity Challenge defines as a long-term potential well being menace.

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

“If [facilities] can’t get their benzene beneath the motion stage, 12 months after 12 months, we actually need to see enforcement from the EPA,” stated Eric Schaeffer, the chief director of the Environmental Integrity Challenge, in a press conference. “That you must start paying penalties when your fence-line levels persist,” he added.

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

Marathon Petroleum’s Galveston Bay refinery in Texas Metropolis had the best common internet benzene levels in 2021, in response to the analysis of the self-reported data. Roughly 37,000 individuals live within a three-mile radius of the refinery. Among them, 62% are people of color 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.

“Folks dwelling close to these services have larger [exposure] to lifetime most cancers threat than any other part of the state, yet the regulatory companies chargeable for protecting us proceed to approve permits for these amenities,” Gutierrez stated.

Environmental Integrity Challenge notes that its analysis did not measure concentrations of benzene inside neighborhoods adjacent to refineries, and does not mirror the precise ranges of benzene throughout the communities.

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