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2014 National Air Toxics Assessment

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2014 National Air Toxics Assessment 2014 National Air Toxics Assessment August 27, 2018 by Wilma Subra [email protected] Graphics by Michael Orr [email protected] On August 22, 2018, the Environmental Protection Agency (EPA) released the 2014 National Air Toxics Assessment (NATA). The previous 2011 National Air Toxics Assessment, released December 17, 2015, focused on air emissions of Chloroprene. Chloroprene has been released into the air in St. John the Baptist Parish of Louisiana for 49 years from the DuPont/ Denka facility in LaPlace/Reserve. NATA estimated higher than expected levels of Chloroprene in the community of LaPlace/Reserve based on the 2011 NATA report and identified the DuPont /Denka facility as creating the greatest offsite risk of cancer of any manufacturing facility in the United States. The 2014 National Air Toxics Assessment focuses on Ethylene Oxide. Louisiana has 13 facilities that release air emissions of Ethylene Oxide. Three of the five facilities in the Unite State, releasing the largest quantities of Ethylene Oxide into the air, are located in Louisiana. The number two ranking air emissions facility of Ethylene Oxide in the US (Union Carbide in Hahnville) is located in St. Charles Parish, Louisiana, just down river from DuPont /Denka. The Ethylene Oxide air emissions from the Union Carbide facility along with the Ethylene Oxide air emissions from the Evonik Materials facility in Reserve, St. John the Baptist Parish, are responsible for St. John the Baptist and St. Charles parishes having the highest risk of cancer from Ethylene Oxide in all of Louisiana and all of the United States. St. John the Baptist Parish also has the highest risk of cancer in the United States from air emissions of Chloroprene. National Air Toxics Assessment (NATA) According to the EPA, “NATA is the US EPA’s ongoing thorough evaluation of air toxics across the Unites States. EPA developed NATA as a state-of-the-science tool to inform both national and localized efforts to collect air toxics information, characterize emissions and help prioritize pollutants and areas of interest for further study to gain a better understanding of risk. The goal of NATA is to identify those air toxics which are of greatest potential concern in terms !1 of 20! Tel:(225) 928-1315 Fax: (225) 922-9247 Mailing: 162 Croydon Ave. Baton Rouge, LA 70806 Web: leanweb.org Email: [email protected] of contribution to population risk. Ambient and exposure concentrations and estimates of risk and hazard of air toxics in each state are typically generated at the census tract level.” The NATA process consist of four steps: -compile a national emissions inventory of outdoor air toxics sources -estimate ambient concentrations of air toxics across the United States -estimate population exposure across the United States -determine potential public health risks from breathing air toxics NATA estimates the cancer risks from breathing air toxics over many years. The 2014 NATA process evaluated 179 Hazardous Air Pollutants that are released into the air. Ethylene Oxide EPA addressed Ethylene Oxide in the 2014 NATA because it was identified as a potential long term concern in several areas across the United States. “EPA does not expect Ethylene Oxide levels in the air in these areas to be high enough to cause immediate harm to health. The 2014 NATA estimates that Ethylene Oxide significantly contributes to potential elevated cancer risks in some census tracts across the US.” Ethylene Oxide is a Hazardous Air Pollutant (HAP) that is a flammable, colorless gas used to make other chemicals that are used in making a range of products, including antifreeze, textiles, plastics, detergents and adhesives. Ethylene Oxide is manufactured from Ethylene and is used primarily as a chemical intermediate in the manufacturing of Ethylene Glycol. Ethylene Oxide is also used to sterilize spices, equipment and plastic devices, such as medical equipment, that cannot be sterilized by steam. Health Impacts of Ethylene Oxide Ethylene Oxide is carcinogenic to humans if inhaled, based on weight of evidence. It may be a teratogen in humans since it is a teratogen in animals. Limited evidence indicates it causes spontaneous abortions. May damage developing fetus. May damage testes. Long term exposure harms the brain and nervous system. !2 of 20! Breathing air containing elevated Ethylene Oxide levels over many years increases the risk of some types of cancers, including cancers of the white blood cells (non-Hodgkin’s lymphoma, myeloma and lymphocytic leukemia) and breast cancer in females. Strong evidence that female workers have increased rate of breast cancer. Induces tumors of the brain, lungs, connective tissues, uterus and mammary glands. Facilities that Release Ethylene Oxide Synthetic Organic Chemical Manufacturing Industry Polyether Polyols Production Miscellaneous Organic Chemical Manufacturing Commercial Sterilizers Hospital Ethylene Oxide Sterilizers Based on the 2016 EPA Toxic Release Inventory, there are 118 industrial facilities in the United States releasing Ethylene Oxide into the air. In the state of Louisiana, there are 13 industrial facilities and in Texas, 25 industrial facilities releasing Ethylene Oxide into the air. Three of the top five industrial facilities in the US releasing the largest quantities of Ethylene Oxide into the air are located in Louisiana, the other two are located in Texas. Together Louisiana and Texas have the top seven industrial facilities releasing the largest quantities of Ethylene Oxide into the air in the US. Louisiana Industrial Facilities Releasing Ethylene Oxide into the Air The 13 industrial facilities releasing Ethylene Oxide into the air in Louisiana are presented on the attached table. Eleven of the industrial facilities are located along the Mississippi River Industrial Corridor, six in Iberville Parish, three in Ascension Parish and one each in St. John the Baptist and St. Charles parishes. The remaining two industrial facilities are located in Calcasieu Parish in southwest Louisiana near the Texas border. The following table lists the 13 facilities in Louisiana that report Ethylene Oxide air emissions. !3 of 20! 2016 Toxic Release Inventory of Ethylene Oxide Air Emissions in Louisiana Fugitive Stack US Facility Address Parish (lbs) (lbs) Ranking ST CHARLES 355 LA HWY 3142 (GATE 1), OPERATIONS (TAFT/ HAHNVILLE LOUISIANA ST CHARLES 5,132 30,726 2 STAR) UNION 70057 CARBIDE CORP 8404 HWY 75, GEISMAR BASF CORP. ASCENSION 1,100 14,000 4 LOUISIANA 70734 LAKE CHARLES CHEMICAL COMPLEX.2201 SASOL CHEMICALS OLD SPANISH TRAIL, CALCASIEU 144 14,600 5 (USA) LLC WESTLAKE LOUISIANA 70669 7594 HIGHWAY 75, SHELL CHEMICAL LP GEISMAR LOUISIANA ASCENSION 1,096 3,213 20 70734 THE DOW 21255 LA HWY 1 S, CHEMICAL CO - PLAQUEMINE LOUISIANA IBERVILLE 846 2,859 22 LOUISIANA 70764 OPERATIONS EVONIK MATERIALS 474 W 19TH ST, RESERVE ST JOHN THE 1,334 1,881 26 CORP. LOUISIANA 70084 BAPTIST BCP INGREDIENTS 3830 HWY 30, SAINT IBERVILLE 3,173 0 28 INC GABRIEL LOUISIANA 70776 3790 LA HWY 30, SAINT TAMINCO US LLC. IBERVILLE 18 1,185 37 GABRIEL LOUISIANA 70776 26270 HIGHWAY 405, SE TYLOSE PLAQUEMINE LOUISIANA IBERVILLE 253.933 17.173 65 LOUISIANA LLC 70764 INEOS OXIDE A DIV 21255A HWY 1 S, OF INEOS AMERICAS PLAQUEMINE LOUISIANA IBERVILLE 164.73 3.91 77 LLC 70765 9156 HIGHWAY 75, RUBICON LLC GEISMAR LOUISIANA ASCENSION 80 3 83 70734 1600 VCM PLANT RD, GEORGIA GULF WESTLAKE LOUISIANA CALCASIEU 2 0 110 LAKE CHARLES LLC 70669 26100 HWY 405 S, AXIALL LLC PLAQUEMINE LOUISIANA IBERVILLE 0 2 111 70764 !4 of 20! Number One Air Emitter of Ethylene Oxide in Louisiana The largest industrial emitter of Ethylene Oxide into the air in Louisiana is the Union Carbide Corp. facility in Hahnville, St. Charles Parish. The Union Carbide facility ranks second in the US based on releasing 35,858 pounds of Ethylene Oxide into the air on a yearly basis. The number one industrial facility in the US releasing Ethylene Oxide into the air is the Huntsman Petrochemical facility in Port Neches, Texas. Number Two Air Emitter of Ethylene Oxide in Louisiana The second largest Louisiana industrial emitter of Ethylene Oxide is the BASF Corp. in Geismar, Ascension Parish. The BASF facility ranks fourth in the US based on the release of 15,100 pounds of Ethylene Oxide into the air on a yearly basis. The third ranking national facility is the Eastman Chemical Co. in Longview, Texas. Number Three Air Emitter of Ethylene Oxide in Louisiana The third largest Louisiana industrial emitter of Ethylene Oxide into the air is Sasol Chemical LLC in Calcasieu Parish with 14,744 pounds per year. The Sasol facility ranks fifth in the US based on the air emissions of Ethylene Oxide. Ethylene Oxide Cancer Risk Due to Ethylene Oxide Air Emissions The 2014 NATA contains Cancer Risk per one million individuals for each of the 179 Hazardous Air Pollutants on a census tract basis for 76,727 census tracts in all of the United States and Puerto Rico. Census Tract Cancer Risk Associated with Ethylene Oxide in St. Charles and St. John the Baptist Parishes St. Charles Parish is the location of Union Carbide Corp. in Hahnville, which releases 35,858 pounds of Ethylene Oxide per year into the air. The Union Carbide facility ranks number one in the state of Louisiana and number two in the US based on Ethylene Oxide air emissions. St. John the Baptist Parish is the location of Evonik Materials Corp. in Reserve, which releases 3,215 pounds of Ethylene Oxide per year into the air. The Evonik facility ranks number six in Louisiana based on the quantity of Ethylene Oxide released into the air and ranks number 26 in the US based on Ethylene Oxide air emissions. !5 of 20! St. Charles and St. John the Baptist parishes have the highest risk of cancer due to Ethylene Oxide in Louisiana (see attached maps of Cancer Risk by Census Tracts in St.
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