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

A dozen US oil refineries last year exceeded the federal limit on common 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 new evaluation by the Environmental Integrity Project revealed on Thursday.

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

The Environmental Safety Agency estimates 6.1 million folks within the US dwell inside three miles of a refinery, with low-income individuals and folks of coloration represented at rates almost twice that of the final population.

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

Nearly 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 menace.

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

“If [facilities] can’t get their benzene beneath the action level, yr after yr, we really need to see enforcement from the EPA,” mentioned Eric Schaeffer, the manager director of the Environmental Integrity Undertaking, in a press convention. “It's essential begin paying penalties when your fence-line levels persist,” he added.

Lifetime exposure to benzene at levels as little as 0.13 microgram per cubic meter might trigger a danger of as much as one additional cancer case for every a million exposed, in keeping with the EPA. The higher the extent of benzene, the upper the well being risk.

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

“This analysis supplies necessary 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 dwelling close to these facilities have higher [exposure] to lifetime cancer threat than every other a part of the state, yet the regulatory agencies answerable for protecting us proceed to approve permits for these facilities,” Gutierrez mentioned.

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

Marathon Petroleum and the EPA did not immediately reply to a request for remark.