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

A dozen US oil refineries final yr exceeded the federal limit on average benzene emissions.

Among the 12 refineries that emitted above the utmost degree for benzene, 5 were 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 known carcinogen that's highly toxic and volatile when exposed to air. Much of the excess emissions come by means of leaks from valves, tanks, pumps and other means which can be laborious to detect.

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

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

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

The EPA requires facilities to take action in the event that they exceed an average 9 micrograms per cubic meter, or above “action degree” emission of benzene.

“If [facilities] can’t get their benzene under the motion stage, yr after 12 months, we really must see enforcement from the EPA,” mentioned Eric Schaeffer, the chief director of the Environmental Integrity Venture, in a press convention. “That you must begin 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 could trigger a risk of up to one further cancer case for every a million exposed, according to the EPA. The upper the extent of benzene, the higher the well being risk.

Marathon Petroleum’s Galveston Bay refinery in Texas City had the best common web benzene levels in 2021, in response to the evaluation of the self-reported data. Roughly 37,000 individuals dwell inside a three-mile radius of the refinery. Amongst them, 62% are people of coloration and 47% are low-income.

“This evaluation provides 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 most cancers danger than any other a part of the state, but the regulatory businesses responsible for protecting us continue to approve permits for these amenities,” Gutierrez said.

Environmental Integrity Venture notes that its analysis did not measure concentrations of benzene inside neighborhoods adjoining to refineries, and does not mirror the actual ranges of benzene throughout the communities.

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