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 utmost degree for benzene, 5 had been in Texas, 4 in Louisiana, and one every in Pennsylvania, Indiana and the US Virgin Islands, a new evaluation by the Environmental Integrity Undertaking revealed on Thursday.

Benzene is a recognized carcinogen that is extremely toxic and risky when uncovered to air. A lot of the surplus emissions come by means of leaks from valves, tanks, pumps and other means which can be arduous to detect.

The Environmental Safety Agency estimates 6.1 million folks in the US dwell inside three miles of a refinery, with low-income folks and people of color represented at rates nearly twice that of the general inhabitants.

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

Nearly half of these refineries released 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 amenities 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 beneath the motion stage, yr after yr, we really must see enforcement from the EPA,” stated Eric Schaeffer, the chief director of the Environmental Integrity Venture, in a press convention. “You should start paying penalties when your fence-line ranges persist,” he added.

Lifetime exposure to benzene at ranges as low as 0.13 microgram per cubic meter could cause a danger of as much as one additional cancer case for each a million exposed, based on the EPA. The upper the level of benzene, the higher the well being threat.

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

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

“Individuals living close to these amenities have higher [exposure] to lifetime most cancers danger than another a part of the state, yet the regulatory agencies liable for defending us proceed to approve permits for these amenities,” Gutierrez stated.

Environmental Integrity Project notes that its evaluation did not measure concentrations of benzene inside neighborhoods adjoining to refineries, and does not reflect the precise ranges of benzene throughout the communities.

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