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

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

Among the 12 refineries that emitted above the maximum level for benzene, five were in Texas, 4 in Louisiana, and one each in Pennsylvania, Indiana and the US Virgin Islands, a new evaluation by the Environmental Integrity Challenge revealed on Thursday.

Benzene is a identified carcinogen that is extremely toxic and unstable when exposed to air. A lot of the surplus emissions come via leaks from valves, tanks, pumps and other means that are hard 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 people of shade represented at charges nearly twice that of the overall inhabitants.

Out of 129 operable oil refineries in 2021, 118 reported benzene focus registered at or close to the location, otherwise often called the fence-line.

Nearly half of these refineries launched benzene levels above 3 micrograms per cubic meter, which the Environmental Integrity Mission defines as a long-term potential well being menace.

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

“If [facilities] can’t get their benzene beneath the action level, yr after yr, we really must see enforcement from the EPA,” stated Eric Schaeffer, the chief director of the Environmental Integrity Undertaking, in a press convention. “It's worthwhile 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 as much as one extra most cancers case for every one million exposed, in line with the EPA. The higher the level of benzene, the upper the health threat.

Marathon Petroleum’s Galveston Bay refinery in Texas Metropolis had the very best average web benzene levels in 2021, according to the analysis of the self-reported information. Roughly 37,000 folks dwell within a three-mile radius of the refinery. Amongst them, 62% are folks of colour and 47% are low-income.

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

“People dwelling close to these services have larger [exposure] to lifetime cancer danger than another part of the state, yet the regulatory businesses accountable for protecting us proceed to approve permits for these amenities,” Gutierrez stated.

Environmental Integrity Venture notes that its evaluation did not measure concentrations of benzene within neighborhoods adjacent to refineries, and doesn't replicate the actual ranges of benzene within the communities.

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