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

A dozen US oil refineries final yr exceeded the federal limit on common benzene emissions.

Among the many 12 refineries that emitted above the maximum degree for benzene, 5 have been in Texas, four in Louisiana, and one each in Pennsylvania, Indiana and the US Virgin Islands, a new evaluation by the Environmental Integrity Venture revealed on Thursday.

Benzene is a known carcinogen that's highly toxic and volatile when uncovered to air. A lot of the surplus emissions come through leaks from valves, tanks, pumps and other means which are hard to detect.

The Environmental Protection Company estimates 6.1 million people in the US dwell within three miles of a refinery, with low-income individuals and other people of shade represented at rates nearly twice that of the overall inhabitants.

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

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

The EPA requires amenities to take action in the event that 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, year after 12 months, we actually must see enforcement from the EPA,” mentioned Eric Schaeffer, the executive director of the Environmental Integrity Mission, in a press convention. “You'll want to start paying penalties when your fence-line ranges persist,” he added.

Lifetime publicity to benzene at ranges as little as 0.13 microgram per cubic meter might trigger a danger of up to one further cancer case for every one million exposed, based on the EPA. The upper the extent of benzene, the higher the well being threat.

Marathon Petroleum’s Galveston Bay refinery in Texas City had the very best average net benzene ranges in 2021, in line with the evaluation of the self-reported data. Roughly 37,000 individuals live inside a three-mile radius of the refinery. Among them, 62% are folks of color and 47% are low-income.

“This analysis gives important insight into why the Houston space is an industrial cancer hotspot,” mentioned Leticia Gutierrez of advocacy group Air Alliance Houston, on the press convention.

“Individuals residing close to these facilities have better [exposure] to lifetime cancer risk than any other a part of the state, but the regulatory businesses liable for protecting us continue to approve permits for these facilities,” Gutierrez said.

Environmental Integrity Venture 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 instantly reply to a request for remark.