EPA Proposes New Rule to Reduce Cancer-Causing Air Pollution from Chemical Plants

December 12, 2024

EPA Proposes New Rule to Reduce Cancer-Causing Air Pollution from Chemical Plants

Victory

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The new rule will reduce deadly ethylene oxide emissions from chemical facilities manufacturing polyether polyols

Contacts

Zahra Ahmad, [email protected]

Washington, D.C.-

The Environmental Protection Agency proposed a new rule to reduce cancer-causing air pollution from chemical plants that produce polyether polyols, a chemical product used to make lubricants and other products on December 11.

Polyether polyols facilities release dangerous amounts of hazardous air pollutants, including the notoriously carcinogenic ethylene oxide (EtO). EtO emissions from polyether polyols facilities pose a high cancer risk to nearby communities, far above the EPA's safety benchmarks. In the proposed rule, EPA has estimated that the maximum excess cancer risk posed by a polyether polyols facility is 1,000-in-1 million, or ten times greater than EPA's benchmark for "acceptable cancer risk." Nearly all of this cancer risk is driven by the facilities' EtO emissions.

The agency also proposed pollution controls, including monitoring EtO emissions at facilities' fencelines and making facilities fix issues. The agency is also updating standards for flares and responding to concerns Earthjustice clients raised back in 2014, when EPA last updated the standards. EPA has estimated that the proposed new controls will reduce EtO emissions by nearly 14 tons per year and overall air toxics emissions by 157 tons per year.

"This is a critical step forward in protecting communities from the dangerous risks posed by ethylene oxide emissions," said Earthjustice Attorney Adrienne Lee."The EPA's acknowledgment of the unacceptable health risks and their commitment to stricter controls, including monitoring and corrective actions, reflects the urgency of this issue. We're especially encouraged to see many of the changes align with the concerns we raised in our 2014 petition."

Polyether polyols are used in products like lubricants, adhesives, cosmetics, soaps, and feedstock. Their production releases toxic air pollutants such as ethylene oxide, propylene oxide, hexane, and toluene, which can cause cancer and other harmful health effects.

There are approximately two dozen polyether polyols production facilities in the United States; the vast majority are concentrated in Louisiana, Texas, and West Virginia. Texas and Louisiana are ranked as states with some of the worst air pollution rates. West Virginia's "Chemical Valley" - where most of the state's polyether polyols facilities are located - has a long history of disproportionate toxic emissions and health impacts on communities of color, including the sprawling and notorious Institute facility located in one of only two majority-Black communities in the state.

People living in communities around these facilities are the most impacted by their toxic emissions. As EPA concluded in 2016, ethylene oxide is a known carcinogen to humans, especially when inhaled, with a cancer risk 60 times greater than previously estimated. Long-term exposure to ethylene oxide also causes damage to the brain and reproductive system.

Many of these facilities are in or adjacent to majority-Black or Brown neighborhoods. For example, at least five polyether polyols production facilities are clustered in Louisiana's Cancer Alley, an 85-mile stretch along the Mississippi River that contains over 200 petrochemical plants. An additional five polyether polyols production facilities are located in the Houston Ship Channel, which has the country's largest concentration of petrochemical facilities.

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