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

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

Among the many 12 refineries that emitted above the utmost stage for benzene, 5 have been in Texas, four in Louisiana, and one every in Pennsylvania, Indiana and the US Virgin Islands, a brand new evaluation by the Environmental Integrity Challenge revealed on Thursday.

Benzene is a identified carcinogen that's 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 might be laborious to detect.

The Environmental Protection Agency estimates 6.1 million people in the US live within three miles of a refinery, with low-income folks and other people of coloration represented at rates nearly twice that of the general inhabitants.

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

Practically 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 facilities to take motion if they exceed a mean 9 micrograms per cubic meter, or above “motion degree” emission of benzene.

“If [facilities] can’t get their benzene beneath the action level, year after year, we really need to see enforcement from the EPA,” stated Eric Schaeffer, the executive director of the Environmental Integrity Challenge, in a press convention. “It is advisable start paying penalties when your fence-line levels persist,” he added.

Lifetime exposure to benzene at ranges as low as 0.13 microgram per cubic meter may cause a threat of as much as one extra cancer case for every a million exposed, in keeping with the EPA. The higher the level of benzene, the higher the well being threat.

Marathon Petroleum’s Galveston Bay refinery in Texas Metropolis had the highest common web benzene levels in 2021, in accordance with the analysis of the self-reported knowledge. Roughly 37,000 folks stay inside a three-mile radius of the refinery. Amongst them, 62% are people of color and 47% are low-income.

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

“People residing near these services have greater [exposure] to lifetime most cancers risk than some other a part of the state, but the regulatory agencies responsible for protecting us proceed to approve permits for these facilities,” Gutierrez mentioned.

Environmental Integrity Project notes that its analysis didn't measure concentrations of benzene within neighborhoods adjacent to refineries, and doesn't reflect the precise ranges of benzene inside the communities.

Marathon Petroleum and the EPA didn't immediately respond to a request for comment.