Five Texas refineries exceeded federal pollution limits of the cancer-causing chemical benzene in 2021, according to an Environmental Integrity Project.
Five Texas refineries exceeded federal pollution limits of the carcinogenic chemical benzene in 2021, according to anbenzene as a human carcinogen, and long-term exposure to benzene emissions has caused blood disorders. There is some evidence that benzene exposure is associated with damage to reproductive organs and fetuses.
The data shows that some refineries have seen benzene pollution get worse over time. Marathon Petroleum’s Galveston Bay refinery in Texas City had the highest average benzene levels in the nation last year, with emissions that were more than double the federal limit. The refinery’s average benzene concentrations have steadily increased every year since 2018, when the EPA began collecting data.
But risk to public health from the pollution depends on how long concentrations of the chemical remained at elevated levels in the air and whether those emissions drifted into nearby neighborhoods. Eric Schaeffer, the executive director of the Environmental Integrity Project, a D.C.-based environmental nonprofit advocacy and legal group, said that means the EPA isn’t requiring the companies to respond quickly enough. Schaeffer added that the action plans don’t require refineries to do enough.
“This only validates what we already know,” John Beard, the executive director of the Port Arthur Community Action Network, said in a statement. He pointed out that Port Arthur is known to have elevated rates of cancer. According to the
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