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 maximum level for benzene, five have been in Texas, 4 in Louisiana, and one each 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's extremely poisonous and unstable when exposed to air. A lot of the excess emissions come by leaks from valves, tanks, pumps and other means which are arduous to detect.

The Environmental Safety Agency estimates 6.1 million people within the US live within three miles of a refinery, with low-income individuals and folks of color represented at rates nearly twice that of the general population.

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

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

The EPA requires services to take motion 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 action stage, year after year, we really must see enforcement from the EPA,” stated Eric Schaeffer, the executive director of the Environmental Integrity Mission, in a press convention. “You'll want to start paying penalties when your fence-line levels persist,” he added.

Lifetime exposure to benzene at ranges as little as 0.13 microgram per cubic meter could cause a threat of as much as one extra most cancers case for each one million exposed, in accordance with the EPA. The higher the extent of benzene, the higher the health threat.

Marathon Petroleum’s Galveston Bay refinery in Texas City had the very best average web benzene levels in 2021, according to the evaluation of the self-reported knowledge. Roughly 37,000 people stay inside a three-mile radius of the refinery. Among them, 62% are individuals of shade and 47% are low-income.

“This analysis gives vital perception into why the Houston area is an industrial most cancers hotspot,” said Leticia Gutierrez of advocacy group Air Alliance Houston, at the press convention.

“Individuals living close to these services have greater [exposure] to lifetime most cancers threat than any other part of the state, yet the regulatory agencies responsible for protecting us continue to approve permits for these facilities,” Gutierrez mentioned.

Environmental Integrity Undertaking notes that its analysis didn't measure concentrations of benzene inside neighborhoods adjacent to refineries, and doesn't reflect the precise levels of benzene throughout the communities.

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