{"id":49668,"date":"2021-02-22T16:39:27","date_gmt":"2021-02-22T16:39:27","guid":{"rendered":"http:\/\/radiofree.asia\/?guid=49faa38120e806d3f8db9661c0f1a0ae"},"modified":"2021-02-22T16:39:27","modified_gmt":"2021-02-22T16:39:27","slug":"texas-refineries-release-over-300000-pounds-of-pollutants-during-storm","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/radiofree.asia\/2021\/02\/22\/texas-refineries-release-over-300000-pounds-of-pollutants-during-storm\/","title":{"rendered":"Texas Refineries Release Over 300,000 Pounds of Pollutants During Storm"},"content":{"rendered":"\"A<\/a>

Texas oil refineries released hundreds of thousands of pounds of pollutants including benzene, carbon monoxide, hydrogen sulfide, and sulfur dioxide into the air as they scrambled to shut down during last week’s deadly winter storm, <\/span>Reuters<\/em> <\/span>reported<\/a> Sunday. <\/span><\/p>\n

Winter storm Uri, which <\/span>killed<\/a> <\/span>dozens of people and cut off power to over four million Texans at its peak, also disrupted supplies needed to keep the state’s refineries and petrochemical plants operating. As they shut down, refineries flared \u2014 or burned off \u2014 gases in order to prevent damage to their processing units. <\/p>\n

According to the Texas Commission on Environment Quality, the five largest refiners emitted nearly 337,000 pounds of pollutants in this manner. <\/p>\n

ExxonMobil’s Baytown Olefins plant in Baytown released 68,000 tons of carbon monoxide and nearly a ton of benzene in what it called a “safe utilization of the flare system.”<\/p>\n

Critics noted, however, that benzene is harmful to bone marrow, red blood cells, and the immune system. <\/p>\n

“There is no safe amount of benzene for human exposure,” Sharon Wilson, a researcher at the advocacy group Earthworks, told <\/span>Reuters<\/em>. <\/p>\n

\n

The five largest U.S. oil refiners emitted tons of pollutants into the skies over Texas this week, including benzene, carbon monoxide, hydrogen sulfide and sulfur dioxide, according to preliminary data provided to the state https:\/\/t.co\/or15mDwYV3<\/a><\/p>\n

\u2014 Reuters (@Reuters) February 21, 2021<\/a><\/p><\/blockquote>\n