Community Impact Report: The Toll of Refineries on Fenceline Communities

The report profiles ten U.S. cities where residents live in close proximity to petroleum refineries, documenting systemic exposure to toxic air pollutants, high rates of cancer and asthma, and frequent industrial accidents. It highlights a pattern of 'significant violation' of the Clean Air Act by major refineries and notes that these facilities are often located in low-income and minority neighborhoods. The document calls for the EPA to implement more stringent air toxics standards and improved fenceline monitoring to protect public health.

• Fenceline communities are regularly exposed to toxic pollution through the routine use of flares to dispose of waste gas, with some areas seeing an increase in flaring incidents due to a lack of strong pollution limits.
• Many refinery-adjacent communities are characterized by higher-than-average rates of cancer and asthma, as well as higher concentrations of racial minorities and low-income populations.
• Refineries frequently operate in 'significant violation' of the Clean Air Act for extended periods, sometimes facing only minor penalties despite long-term illegal operations.
• In Baton Rouge, LA, the ExxonMobil facility released 1.09 million pounds of toxic air emissions in 2012 and has been in 'significant violation' of the Clean Air Act for 12 consecutive quarters.
• Corpus Christi, TX, contains the nation's densest concentration of refineries, known as 'Refinery Row,' where six large refineries released over 1.5 million pounds of hazardous air pollutants in 2012.
• In Detroit, MI, the Marathon Petroleum Corporation refinery emitted over 20,000 lbs. of benzene and 30,000 lbs. of toluene in 2011, while the city's cancer rate exceeds the Michigan state average.
• The Philadelphia Refining Complex has been in 'significant violation' of the Clean Air Act for 12 consecutive quarters and released 701,284 pounds of toxic chemicals into the air in 2013.
• Port Arthur, TX, is described as an 'American Sacrifice Zone' due to its combination of low-income households and poor health outcomes, including African American cancer mortality rates more than 40 percent higher than the Texas average.
• The Chevron refinery in Richmond, CA, has a history of at least 19 fires, spills, and explosions between 1989 and 2012, including a 2012 event that led approximately 15,000 people to seek medical treatment.
• In Wilmington, CA, a draft study estimated cancer risk for residents to be between 400 and 1,000 per million, which is significantly higher than the 1-in-1 million risk level that triggers EPA action.

APA

Earthjustice (2014). Community Impact Report: The Toll of Refineries on Fenceline Communities. https://earthjustice.org/wp-content/uploads/10.28.1420epa20refinery20risk20review2003_addendum20a20-20community20impact20report.pdf

Chicago

Earthjustice. Community Impact Report: The Toll of Refineries on Fenceline Communities. 2014. https://earthjustice.org/wp-content/uploads/10.28.1420epa20refinery20risk20review2003_addendum20a20-20community20impact20report.pdf.

Wikipedia

{{cite report |author=Earthjustice |title=Community Impact Report: The Toll of Refineries on Fenceline Communities |date=28 October 2014 |url=https://earthjustice.org/wp-content/uploads/10.28.1420epa20refinery20risk20review2003_addendum20a20-20community20impact20report.pdf |access-date=23 October 2026 |via=Climate Insights Directory}}

BibTeX

@techreport{earthjustice2014community, author = {{Earthjustice}}, title = {{Community Impact Report: The Toll of Refineries on Fenceline Communities}}, institution = {Earthjustice}, year = {2014}, month = oct, url = {https://earthjustice.org/wp-content/uploads/10.28.1420epa20refinery20risk20review2003_addendum20a20-20community20impact20report.pdf}, urldate = {2026-10-23}, note = {Indexed by Climate Insights Directory} }