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 maximum 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 analysis by the Environmental Integrity Undertaking revealed on Thursday.

Benzene is a known carcinogen that is extremely toxic and unstable when exposed to air. Much of the excess emissions come by means of leaks from valves, tanks, pumps and different means that are laborious to detect.

The Environmental Protection Company estimates 6.1 million people within the US live within three miles of a refinery, with low-income individuals and other people of colour represented at charges practically twice that of the overall population.

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

Almost half of those refineries released benzene levels above 3 micrograms per cubic meter, which the Environmental Integrity Challenge defines as a long-term potential health threat.

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

“If [facilities] can’t get their benzene under the motion level, yr after 12 months, we really have to see enforcement from the EPA,” said Eric Schaeffer, the chief director of the Environmental Integrity Project, in a press convention. “You need to begin paying penalties when your fence-line levels persist,” he added.

Lifetime exposure to benzene at levels as low as 0.13 microgram per cubic meter could trigger a risk of up to one extra most cancers case for every one million uncovered, in accordance with the EPA. The upper the extent of benzene, the upper the well being risk.

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

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

“Folks living close to these facilities have larger [exposure] to lifetime cancer threat than another a part of the state, but the regulatory agencies liable for protecting us proceed to approve permits for these services,” Gutierrez stated.

Environmental Integrity Undertaking notes that its evaluation did not measure concentrations of benzene inside neighborhoods adjoining to refineries, and does not replicate the precise levels of benzene inside the communities.

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