US oil refineries spewing cancer-causing benzene into communities, report finds | Air 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 utmost degree for benzene, 5 had been in Texas, 4 in Louisiana, and one each in Pennsylvania, Indiana and the US Virgin Islands, a brand new evaluation by the Environmental Integrity Project 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 other means which can be laborious to detect.

The Environmental Safety Company estimates 6.1 million individuals in the US stay within three miles of a refinery, with low-income people and folks of color represented at charges nearly twice that of the overall inhabitants.

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

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

The EPA requires services to take motion in the event that they exceed a mean 9 micrograms per cubic meter, or above “motion stage” emission of benzene.

“If [facilities] can’t get their benzene under the motion level, year after yr, we really must see enforcement from the EPA,” mentioned Eric Schaeffer, the chief director of the Environmental Integrity Venture, in a press conference. “That you must 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 might cause a threat of as much as one further most cancers case for every one million uncovered, based on the EPA. The higher the level of benzene, the higher the health danger.

Marathon Petroleum’s Galveston Bay refinery in Texas Metropolis had the very best common internet benzene ranges in 2021, in line with the analysis of the self-reported data. Roughly 37,000 individuals stay inside a three-mile radius of the refinery. Among them, 62% are people of colour and 47% are low-income.

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

“Individuals living close to these amenities have greater [exposure] to lifetime most cancers risk than another a part of the state, yet the regulatory businesses accountable for defending us continue to approve permits for these services,” Gutierrez mentioned.

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

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