Oil refineries have been releasing unsafe levels of cancer-causing benzene, says a new report calling for more action from the Environmental Protection Agency (EPA).
The EPA’s office of the inspector general said this week that out of 25 refineries that had an instance of excess benzene levels, 18 later emitted the chemical at unsafe levels.
The report looked at a period from January 2018 to September 2021.
It particularly pointed to refineries in Pennsylvania and Texas that emitted unsafe levels of benzene during 23 separate two-week sampling periods and 11 separate two-week sampling periods, respectively.
Eric Schaeffer, former director of the EPA’s Office of Civil Enforcement, described benzene emissions at this level as “posing a significant risk to people downwind.”