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

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

Among the 12 refineries that emitted above the maximum level for benzene, five have 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's extremely poisonous and unstable when uncovered to air. Much of the surplus emissions come by means of leaks from valves, tanks, pumps and other means which might be hard to detect.

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

Out of 129 operable oil refineries in 2021, 118 reported benzene focus registered at or near the site, in any other case often called the fence-line.

Practically half of those refineries launched benzene levels above 3 micrograms per cubic meter, which the Environmental Integrity Mission defines as a long-term potential health threat.

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

“If [facilities] can’t get their benzene beneath the motion level, year after 12 months, we really must see enforcement from the EPA,” said Eric Schaeffer, the executive director of the Environmental Integrity Undertaking, in a press convention. “You want to start paying penalties when your fence-line ranges persist,” he added.

Lifetime publicity to benzene at levels as little as 0.13 microgram per cubic meter might cause a threat of as much as one extra cancer case for each one million uncovered, based on the EPA. The higher the extent of benzene, the higher the health risk.

Marathon Petroleum’s Galveston Bay refinery in Texas Metropolis had the highest average internet benzene levels in 2021, in accordance with the analysis of the self-reported knowledge. Roughly 37,000 individuals dwell within a three-mile radius of the refinery. Amongst them, 62% are individuals of shade and 47% are low-income.

“This evaluation supplies important insight into why the Houston space is an industrial cancer hotspot,” stated Leticia Gutierrez of advocacy group Air Alliance Houston, on the press conference.

“People living near these amenities have greater [exposure] to lifetime cancer threat than every other a part of the state, yet the regulatory agencies responsible for defending us continue to approve permits for these amenities,” Gutierrez mentioned.

Environmental Integrity Challenge notes that its evaluation didn't measure concentrations of benzene inside neighborhoods adjoining to refineries, and does not replicate the actual ranges of benzene throughout the communities.

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