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

A dozen US oil refineries final 12 months exceeded the federal limit on average benzene emissions.

Among the many 12 refineries that emitted above the utmost level for benzene, five had 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 Undertaking revealed on Thursday.

Benzene is a identified carcinogen that's highly toxic and unstable when uncovered to air. Much of the excess emissions come by leaks from valves, tanks, pumps and different means which can be exhausting to detect.

The Environmental Protection Company estimates 6.1 million people within the US live inside three miles of a refinery, with low-income people and folks of shade represented at rates practically twice that of the overall population.

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

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

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

“If [facilities] can’t get their benzene under the action level, 12 months after yr, we really must see enforcement from the EPA,” stated Eric Schaeffer, the manager director of the Environmental Integrity Mission, in a press convention. “You might want to start paying penalties when your fence-line ranges persist,” he added.

Lifetime exposure to benzene at levels as low as 0.13 microgram per cubic meter may cause a risk of up to one further cancer case for each a million uncovered, according to the EPA. The higher the extent of benzene, the higher the well being danger.

Marathon Petroleum’s Galveston Bay refinery in Texas City had the very best average net benzene levels in 2021, according to the evaluation of the self-reported data. Roughly 37,000 people dwell inside a three-mile radius of the refinery. Amongst them, 62% are people of shade and 47% are low-income.

“This evaluation provides necessary perception into why the Houston space is an industrial cancer hotspot,” said Leticia Gutierrez of advocacy group Air Alliance Houston, at the press conference.

“People living close to these amenities have larger [exposure] to lifetime most cancers risk than another a part of the state, yet the regulatory companies answerable for defending us continue to approve permits for these facilities,” Gutierrez stated.

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

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