Texas’ Gulf Coast Has a Health Problem: Benzene Emissions Are Among the Highest in the Nation

CAPITAL & MAIN

By Elena Bruess

Daylight hadn’t yet slipped from the sky above Port Arthur when the residents felt the ground shake. They quickly moved inside, shut windows and closed doors, sheltering in place until they got word that the explosion at the Valero Port Arthur Refinery was under control.

The ensuing fire, which polluted the community in a black chemical plume in late March, burned for nearly 10 hours and released chemicals into the air for over 10 days.

Incidents like this one are not uncommon for residents in Port Arthur, a Texas Gulf town wedged at the border between Texas and Louisiana. Of the 131 oil refineries in the United States, more than a quarter of them are in Texas and most line the Gulf Coast. Communities like Port Arthur, which sit on the industry’s fenceline, get the brunt of the pollution — including a highly hazardous and carcinogenic chemical found in crude oil and gas called benzene.