US oil refineries spewing cancer-causing benzene into communities, report finds | 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 maximum stage for benzene, five were in Texas, 4 in Louisiana, and one each in Pennsylvania, Indiana and the US Virgin Islands, a new evaluation by the Environmental Integrity Mission revealed on Thursday.

Benzene is a recognized carcinogen that's highly toxic and risky when exposed to air. Much of the excess emissions come via leaks from valves, tanks, pumps and different means which are arduous to detect.

The Environmental Safety Company estimates 6.1 million individuals within the US reside inside three miles of a refinery, with low-income folks and people of colour represented at rates almost twice that of the general inhabitants.

Out of 129 operable oil refineries in 2021, 118 reported benzene focus registered at or close to the positioning, otherwise often called the fence-line.

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

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

“If [facilities] can’t get their benzene under the action degree, yr after 12 months, we really have to see enforcement from the EPA,” stated Eric Schaeffer, the manager director of the Environmental Integrity Undertaking, in a press conference. “You have to begin paying penalties when your fence-line ranges persist,” he added.

Lifetime exposure to benzene at ranges as little as 0.13 microgram per cubic meter might cause a threat of up to one further cancer case for each one million exposed, in response to the EPA. The higher the extent of benzene, the higher the health risk.

Marathon Petroleum’s Galveston Bay refinery in Texas City had the highest average internet benzene ranges in 2021, according to the analysis of the self-reported knowledge. Roughly 37,000 folks reside within a three-mile radius of the refinery. Among them, 62% are folks of coloration and 47% are low-income.

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

“Individuals residing close to these services have larger [exposure] to lifetime cancer threat than every other part of the state, yet the regulatory businesses answerable for protecting us continue to approve permits for these facilities,” Gutierrez said.

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

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