Environmentalists Urge EPA To Step Up Refinery Enforcement On Benzene

Environmentalists and local community activists are urging EPA to introduce financial penalties for refineries that repeatedly exceed EPA “action levels” for benzene, and to step up enforcement against the facilities, as data from fenceline monitors shows some plants are regularly exceeding the EPA limit. “It needs to cost refineries money where you don’t have progress getting these levels down,” said Eric Schaeffer, executive director of the Environmental Integrity Project (EIP), on a May 12 call with reporters. Refineries “need to...