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 12 refineries that emitted above the utmost level for benzene, five had been in Texas, 4 in Louisiana, and one each in Pennsylvania, Indiana and the US Virgin Islands, a new analysis by the Environmental Integrity Mission revealed on Thursday.

Benzene is a identified carcinogen that is highly poisonous and unstable when exposed to air. A lot of the excess emissions come via leaks from valves, tanks, pumps and different means that are laborious to detect.

The Environmental Protection Company estimates 6.1 million folks in the US reside within three miles of a refinery, with low-income folks and other people of colour represented at rates almost twice that of the final population.

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

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

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

“If [facilities] can’t get their benzene below the motion degree, 12 months after year, we actually have to see enforcement from the EPA,” mentioned Eric Schaeffer, the manager director of the Environmental Integrity Mission, in a press conference. “You have to start paying penalties when your fence-line levels persist,” he added.

Lifetime publicity to benzene at ranges as little as 0.13 microgram per cubic meter may trigger a danger of up to one additional most cancers case for every a million exposed, in line with 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 highest average web benzene ranges in 2021, according to the evaluation of the self-reported information. Roughly 37,000 people live within a three-mile radius of the refinery. Amongst them, 62% are folks of coloration and 47% are low-income.

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

“Individuals dwelling near these services have higher [exposure] to lifetime cancer threat than some other a part of the state, yet the regulatory agencies answerable for defending us continue to approve permits for these amenities,” Gutierrez stated.

Environmental Integrity Mission notes that its evaluation did not measure concentrations of benzene inside neighborhoods adjacent to refineries, and doesn't mirror the precise levels of benzene throughout the communities.

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