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

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

Among the many 12 refineries that emitted above the utmost level for benzene, five have been in Texas, four 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 known carcinogen that's extremely poisonous and volatile when uncovered to air. A lot of the excess emissions come via leaks from valves, tanks, pumps and other means which can be arduous to detect.

The Environmental Safety Company estimates 6.1 million folks within the US live inside three miles of a refinery, with low-income individuals and people of color represented at charges practically twice that of the final population.

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

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

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

“If [facilities] can’t get their benzene below the action stage, year after 12 months, we really have to see enforcement from the EPA,” stated Eric Schaeffer, the chief director of the Environmental Integrity Project, in a press conference. “It is advisable to start paying penalties when your fence-line ranges persist,” he added.

Lifetime publicity to benzene at levels as little as 0.13 microgram per cubic meter might cause a danger of as much as one further cancer case for each one million exposed, in response to the EPA. The higher the extent of benzene, the higher the health danger.

Marathon Petroleum’s Galveston Bay refinery in Texas City had the best average internet benzene levels in 2021, in accordance with the analysis of the self-reported knowledge. Roughly 37,000 folks live within a three-mile radius of the refinery. Amongst them, 62% are folks of coloration and 47% are low-income.

“This evaluation supplies vital insight into why the Houston space is an industrial most cancers hotspot,” stated Leticia Gutierrez of advocacy group Air Alliance Houston, on the press convention.

“Folks residing near these amenities have higher [exposure] to lifetime cancer risk than another a part of the state, yet the regulatory agencies answerable for defending us proceed to approve permits for these services,” Gutierrez said.

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

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