THE ENVIRONMENT

http://www.theglobeandmail.com/servlet/story/LAC.20080906.POLLUTANTS06/TPStory/Environment

Oil refineries underestimate release of emissions, study says

Test facility spewed 19 times more cancer-causing benzene than it reported

MARTIN MITTELSTAEDT

ENVIRONMENT REPORTER

September 6, 2008

A study by the Alberta Research Council that investigated the plume of contaminants emanating from a Canadian oil refinery using high-tech sniffing equipment found the facility dramatically underestimated its releases of dangerous air pollutants.

The refinery, which wasn't identified but is believed to be in Alberta, released 19 times more cancer-causing benzene than it reported under Environment Canada disclosure regulations, about 15 times more smog-causing volatile organic compounds, and nine times more methane, a greenhouse gas, according to the study.

The testing is believed to be the first at a North American refinery using the sophisticated technology relying on lasers, and is considered state-of-the art. The technology, developed by British Petroleum, has been in widespread use in Europe for nearly two decades.

Based on the study, funded by the federal, Alberta and Ontario governments, it is likely that all refineries in Canada and the United States are seriously undercounting emissions because they follow an estimating protocol developed by the Washington-based American Petroleum Institute and the U.S. Environmental Protection Agency. Under the protocol, refineries don't calculate their actual emissions, but try to reach approximate figures using technical assumptions and mathematical equations.

In July, the City of Houston, relying on the Alberta research, filed a petition with the EPA demanding that the agency change the way refineries calculate emissions.

"The current system relies on formulas, equations and assumptions, known as 'emission factors,' which have been proven by direct observations of facilities to be inaccurate, unreliable and biased toward undercounting," the city said in a statement.

Ecojustice, a Toronto environmental group, wants Environment Canada to look at the accuracy of industry reporting data in light of the findings. The study suggests a "vast underestimation" of refinery emissions, with "profound implications for communities" near them, said Elaine MacDonald, senior scientist with the group. She said it is difficult to have effective pollution controls "if we don't have accurate monitoring data."

Environment Canada said in a statement that it supported the research as part of an effort to get "the most accurate emissions data possible" from the industry.

Tony Macerollo, vice-president of the Canadian Petroleum Products Institute, said the European technology is good at identifying emission sources at refineries, but doesn't give accurate figures on annual releases.

For the study, the refinery was checked over a 10-day period in late summer of 2005, while operating near full capacity of 140,000 barrels a day. Allan Chambers, a member of the study team, said the refinery volunteered for the tests.

He said the technology is highly accurate and gives petroleum companies valuable information on where to make pollution-control investments. In the case of the refinery, the study estimated that if the emissions it found continued for a year, the cost of petroleum lost through air emissions would reach $3.1-million (U.S.) at $40-a-barrel oil.

Estimating refinery pollution is difficult because most emissions don't come from easy-to-monitor sources, such as smokestacks, but are wafting from dozens of leaking valves, storage tanks, drains and vents. These disparate releases, known as fugitive emissions, are estimated under the API-EPA protocol.

But the study, which tabulated actual emissions in the air around the plant, found some of the estimating assumptions were far off the mark. At storage tanks, for instance, the testing found releases of benzene were about 100 times higher than the estimated figures, although air concentrations were still within Alberta government safety levels. Under the industry's estimating procedure, the tanks were thought to be responsible for only about 12 per cent of benzene emissions, although the tests found the figure was really 63 per cent.

Calculating emissions of air pollutants

Researchers calculated a Canadian refinery's emissions using a sophisticated technology known as DIAL (differential absorption light detection and ranging). The technology has been tested on dozens of refineries and chemical plants in Europe, including one that used it to reduce emissions by 84 per cent.

HOW IT WORKS

First researchers position themselves downwind of the plant

DIAL truck

A pulsed tunable laser, using two wavelengths, scans a slice through the chemical plant's emissions, taking readings of the pollutants

Scan findings

Hydrocarbon emissions were 15 times higher than expected; benzene, 19 times; methane, nine times.

NINIAN CARTER/THE GLOBE AND MAIL; SOURCE: JOURNAL OF THE AIR & WASTE MANAGEMENT ASSOCIATION