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

Benzene is a identified carcinogen that is extremely poisonous and volatile when uncovered to air. A lot of the surplus emissions come via leaks from valves, tanks, pumps and different means that are arduous to detect.

The Environmental Safety Agency estimates 6.1 million folks within the US stay inside three miles of a refinery, with low-income folks and folks 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 positioning, in any other case known as the fence-line.

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

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

“If [facilities] can’t get their benzene under the action level, yr after yr, we really must see enforcement from the EPA,” mentioned Eric Schaeffer, the executive director of the Environmental Integrity Undertaking, in a press conference. “That you must start paying penalties when your fence-line levels persist,” he added.

Lifetime publicity to benzene at levels as little as 0.13 microgram per cubic meter may trigger a risk of as much as one extra cancer case for every one million exposed, according to the EPA. The upper the extent of benzene, the upper the well being danger.

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

“This evaluation supplies essential insight into why the Houston space is an industrial cancer hotspot,” mentioned Leticia Gutierrez of advocacy group Air Alliance Houston, at the press conference.

“People living close to these facilities have larger [exposure] to lifetime most cancers danger than another part of the state, but the regulatory agencies responsible for protecting us proceed to approve permits for these services,” Gutierrez mentioned.

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

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