A deadly form of soot pollution from U.S. refineries has gone unregulated for decades because of a dispute between the U.S. oil industry and federal environmental officials over how to measure it, according to documents from the Environmental Protection Agency reviewed by Reuters.
The delay in addressing so-called condensable fine particulate matter emissions means this pollutant is being released by scores of facilities across the country unchecked, adding to a slew of other contaminants from oil refineries that researchers say take a disproportionately large toll on the health of poor and minority communities living nearby.
The industry says testing employed currently can overstate the amount of condensable soot emitted by refineries under certain conditions, a flaw the EPA has acknowledged. "It is inappropriate to wait more than 30 years to protect people from this form of pollution while you are trying to perfect a test,” Karras said.
The API, however, says the test can produce erroneously high readings of condensable soot if the samples react with other chemicals that commonly are present at a refinery. U.S. states and regions are often given the power to impose their own pollution limits provided those rules are as strong, or stronger, than federal regulations.
BAAQMD estimates its restrictions would cut the area’s annual death toll from soot by as much as half. Soot-related deaths currently average up to 12 a year from Chevron's Richmond refinery and up to six deaths a year from PBF Energy’s refinery in Martinez, California, the regulator estimates.
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