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 degree for benzene, five were in Texas, four in Louisiana, and one every in Pennsylvania, Indiana and the US Virgin Islands, a brand new evaluation by the Environmental Integrity Challenge revealed on Thursday.

Benzene is a recognized carcinogen that's extremely toxic and unstable when uncovered to air. Much of the excess emissions come by leaks from valves, tanks, pumps and different means which can be hard to detect.

The Environmental Safety Agency estimates 6.1 million folks in the US stay inside three miles of a refinery, with low-income individuals and people of color represented at rates almost twice that of the general inhabitants.

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

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

The EPA requires services to take action in the event that 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 stage, year after yr, we actually need to see enforcement from the EPA,” stated Eric Schaeffer, the chief director of the Environmental Integrity Venture, in a press conference. “You could 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, in accordance with the EPA. The higher the level of benzene, the upper the well being threat.

Marathon Petroleum’s Galveston Bay refinery in Texas Metropolis had the very best common internet benzene levels in 2021, in response to the analysis of the self-reported information. Roughly 37,000 folks reside within a three-mile radius of the refinery. Among them, 62% are folks of coloration and 47% are low-income.

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

“Folks residing near these facilities have greater [exposure] to lifetime cancer danger than any other a part of the state, but the regulatory companies liable for protecting us proceed to approve permits for these amenities,” Gutierrez stated.

Environmental Integrity Challenge notes that its analysis did not measure concentrations of benzene within neighborhoods adjacent to refineries, and doesn't reflect the actual levels of benzene throughout the communities.

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