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Tell the EPA to Prohibit Air Emissions that Leave Americans Sick

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Sponsor: The Rainforest Site

High pollution levels from large fuel facilities are causing serious health risks for Americans. Call on the EPA to protect public health by updating its chemical approval process!

High pollution levels from large fuel facilities are causing serious health risks for Americans. Call on the EPA to protect public health by updating its chemical approval process!

The EPA has recently approved Chevron's proposal to produce fuel from discarded plastics in Pascagoula, Mississippi1, with the intention of reducing our reliance on petroleum, but records obtained by ProPublica and the Guardian show that one of the fuels could emit air pollution so toxic that one in four people exposed to it over a lifetime could get cancer2. This is 250,000 times higher than the level considered acceptable by the EPA, and it's terrible news for low-income and underrepresented populations that live within three miles of the refinery3.

Maria Doa, a scientist who worked at the EPA for 30 years, reviewed the risk document and was so alarmed by the cancer threat that she initially thought it was a typographical error. She stated that she had never seen a chemical with such a high cancer risk being released into a community without restrictions in her three decades at the EPA4.

One of the Chevron fuels that will be created at its Pascagoula refinery is expected to cause cancer in 1.2 of 10,000 people, a rate far higher than the agency allows for the general population5. This is a serious health risk that we cannot ignore, and it's also predicted to cause developmental problems in children and harm to the nervous system, reproductive system, liver, kidneys, blood, and spleen6.

It's not just the chemicals released through the creation of fuels from plastics that are causing problems, but people living near the Chevron refinery are also exposed to other cancer-causing pollutants. In fact, a 2021 ProPublica report mapped excess cancer risk in nearly every community in the United States, and it showed that Pascagoula has some of the highest cancer risks in the country7.

The EPA is prohibited by federal law from approving new chemicals that pose serious risks to health or the environment unless it develops methods to mitigate those risks, according to the EPA website. However, in this instance, the agency did not mandate laboratory testing or implement measures such as air monitoring or controls that would decrease the emission of cancer-causing pollutants or limit people's contact with them8.

The EPA declared a program in January 2022 aimed at expediting the approval of substitutes for petroleum as a component of the Biden-Harris administration's efforts to tackle the climate crisis9. While we support efforts to reduce our reliance on petroleum, we cannot accept the risks that come with it. The EPA authorized fuels made from plastics, despite being petroleum-based and contributing to the emission of greenhouse gases that cause global warming10.

The EPA won't reveal any information about the waste-based fuels, not even their names or chemical structures, citing a legal provision that allows companies to claim as confidential any information that would give their competitors an advantage in the marketplace11. This is not acceptable. We need more transparency from the EPA, and a more honest focus on public health.

We need to protect low-income and underrepresented populations that live near the refinery, and we need to take action to protect ourselves and our planet. Help us tell the EPA to stop allowing these unacceptable risks. Sign the petition and tell the EPA to take a stand for Americans and our environment!

More on this issue:

  1. Sharon Lerner, The Guardian (23 February 2023), "This ‘climate-friendly’ fuel comes with an astronomical cancer risk."
  2. Sharon Lerner, ProPublica (23 February 2023), "This “Climate-Friendly” Fuel Comes With an Astronomical Cancer Risk."
  3. United States Environmental Protection Agency (21 November 2022), "Risk Assessment for Carcinogenic Effects."
  4. Lizzy Rosenberg, Greenmatters (23 February 2023), "Chevron’s Latest Greenwashing Scandal Labeled a Cancerous Fuel Alternative as “Biofuel”."
  5. ProPublica, The Defender (28 February 2023), "EPA Green Lights ‘Climate-Friendly’ Fuel From Discarded Plastics Despite High Cancer Risk."
  6. Proposition 65 Warnings, California Office of Environmental Health Hazard Assessment (2023), "Petroleum Products."
  7. Al Shaw, Lylla Younes, Ava Kofman, ProPublica (2 November 2021), "The Most Detailed Map of Cancer-Causing Industrial Air Pollution in the U.S.."
  8. United States Environmental Protection Agency (10 May 2022), "EPA's Review Process for New Chemicals."
  9. United States Environmental Protection Agency (21 January 2022), "EPA Announces Effort to Help Bring Climate-Friendly New Chemicals to Market to Reduce Greenhouse Gas Emissions."
  10. United States Environmental Protection Agency (5 April 2022), "Integrated Approach for Biofuel Premanufacture Notices."
  11. Federal Register (26 December 2017), "Confidentiality Determinations for Hazardous Waste Export and Import Documents."
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The Petition:

To the Administrator of the Environmental Protection Agency (EPA),

We, the undersigned, are deeply concerned about the serious health risks that have been observed in Pascagoula, Mississippi. Residents living near the large fuel facility are falling ill as a result of high pollution from the production of new recycled plastic-based fuels, which the EPA has already approved.

This is an unacceptable threat to public health, and we demand immediate action to protect Americans from further danger.

As citizens who care about our health and the health of future generations, we call on the EPA to update its chemical approval process to mandate laboratory testing and measures such as air monitoring or controls that would decrease the emission of these dangerous chemicals or limit people's contact with them.

Currently, the EPA's chemical approval process does not require adequate testing to determine the potential health risks of chemicals. This leaves citizens vulnerable to exposure to dangerous substances that can cause cancer and other serious health problems. Additionally, the EPA does not mandate sufficient measures to reduce emissions of these chemicals or limit people's contact with them, which further increases the risk of cancer.

We demand that the EPA take action to protect our health and the health of future generations by updating its chemical approval process to:

  1. Require laboratory testing to determine the potential health risks of chemicals before they are approved for use.

  2. Mandate air monitoring or controls that would decrease the emission of cancer-causing pollutants and limit people's contact with them.

We believe that these measures are essential to ensure that our environment is safe and healthy for all. We urge the EPA to take swift action to update its chemical approval process and protect citizens from the harmful effects of cancer-causing pollutants.

Sincerely,

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Signatures: