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

A dozen US oil refineries last 12 months exceeded the federal limit on common benzene emissions.

Among the many 12 refineries that emitted above the maximum degree for benzene, five were in Texas, four in Louisiana, and one each in Pennsylvania, Indiana and the US Virgin Islands, a new evaluation by the Environmental Integrity Venture revealed on Thursday.

Benzene is a recognized carcinogen that's extremely toxic and risky 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 Company estimates 6.1 million individuals in the US stay inside three miles of a refinery, with low-income people and people of coloration represented at charges almost twice that of the final inhabitants.

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

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

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

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

Lifetime exposure to benzene at levels as little as 0.13 microgram per cubic meter may cause a threat of as much as one further most cancers case for each a million exposed, in line with the EPA. The higher the level of benzene, the upper the well being threat.

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

“This evaluation offers necessary insight into why the Houston area is an industrial most cancers hotspot,” stated Leticia Gutierrez of advocacy group Air Alliance Houston, on the press conference.

“Individuals living close to these services have better [exposure] to lifetime cancer danger than any other part of the state, yet the regulatory agencies liable for protecting us proceed to approve permits for these facilities,” Gutierrez stated.

Environmental Integrity Mission notes that its analysis didn't measure concentrations of benzene inside neighborhoods adjoining to refineries, and doesn't replicate the actual levels of benzene inside the communities.

Marathon Petroleum and the EPA didn't instantly respond to a request for remark.