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

A dozen US oil refineries last year exceeded the federal limit on average benzene emissions.

Among the many 12 refineries that emitted above the maximum stage 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 Project revealed on Thursday.

Benzene is a recognized carcinogen that's extremely poisonous and risky when uncovered to air. Much of the surplus emissions come through leaks from valves, tanks, pumps and other means which are hard to detect.

The Environmental Safety Company estimates 6.1 million folks within the US reside within three miles of a refinery, with low-income folks and other people of color represented at rates nearly twice that of the final inhabitants.

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

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

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

“If [facilities] can’t get their benzene below the motion level, year after yr, we really have to see enforcement from the EPA,” said Eric Schaeffer, the manager director of the Environmental Integrity Venture, in a press conference. “You have 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 might cause a danger of up to one additional most cancers case for each one million exposed, in keeping with the EPA. The upper the level of benzene, the upper the well being risk.

Marathon Petroleum’s Galveston Bay refinery in Texas Metropolis had the highest average web benzene levels in 2021, in keeping with the analysis of the self-reported data. Roughly 37,000 folks live inside a three-mile radius of the refinery. Among them, 62% are individuals of color and 47% are low-income.

“This analysis provides vital perception into why the Houston area is an industrial most cancers hotspot,” said Leticia Gutierrez of advocacy group Air Alliance Houston, on the press conference.

“Folks dwelling close to these facilities have greater [exposure] to lifetime cancer danger than some other part of the state, yet the regulatory companies liable for protecting us proceed to approve permits for these facilities,” Gutierrez stated.

Environmental Integrity Challenge notes that its analysis did not measure concentrations of benzene inside neighborhoods adjoining to refineries, and doesn't mirror the precise levels of benzene within the communities.

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