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

A dozen US oil refineries last year exceeded the federal restrict on average benzene emissions.

Among the 12 refineries that emitted above the utmost degree for benzene, 5 had been in Texas, 4 in Louisiana, and one each in Pennsylvania, Indiana and the US Virgin Islands, a new analysis by the Environmental Integrity Challenge revealed on Thursday.

Benzene is a identified carcinogen that is extremely toxic and unstable when uncovered to air. Much of the excess emissions come by means of leaks from valves, tanks, pumps and different means which can be exhausting to detect.

The Environmental Protection Company estimates 6.1 million people within the US reside inside three miles of a refinery, with low-income folks and other people of color represented at charges almost twice that of the final inhabitants.

Out of 129 operable oil refineries in 2021, 118 reported benzene concentration registered at or near the positioning, otherwise generally known as the fence-line.

Almost half of these refineries released benzene ranges above 3 micrograms per cubic meter, which the Environmental Integrity Undertaking defines as a long-term potential health menace.

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

“If [facilities] can’t get their benzene under the action level, year after yr, we actually must see enforcement from the EPA,” stated Eric Schaeffer, the chief director of the Environmental Integrity Project, in a press convention. “It's essential to start 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 as much as one further cancer case for every a million uncovered, in response to the EPA. The higher the level of benzene, the higher the health risk.

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

“This evaluation supplies vital perception into why the Houston space is an industrial cancer hotspot,” said Leticia Gutierrez of advocacy group Air Alliance Houston, at the press conference.

“Individuals residing near these services have greater [exposure] to lifetime most cancers danger than any other a part of the state, but the regulatory businesses accountable for protecting us continue to approve permits for these amenities,” Gutierrez said.

Environmental Integrity Undertaking notes that its evaluation didn't measure concentrations of benzene within neighborhoods adjoining to refineries, and does not mirror the actual levels of benzene throughout the communities.

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