KGW

SPECIAL REPORT: Pumping poison - gas station workers and toxic fumes

Wednesday, November 22, 2006

By VINCE PATTON, Special to kgw.com

Two Oregon agencies want to investigate whether gas station attendants in Oregon are breathing dangerous levels of benzene on the job.
It's the latest development after the recent revelation that Oregon gasoline contains the highest levels of benzene in the nation. As a result, Oregonians are breathing air with the highest levels of benzene nationally, despite a general absence of heavy industry in the state.

The impact on gas station attendants could be quite acute. Couple Oregon's unusually high benzene levels in its gas with another factor uniquely Oregon, mandatory full-service fueling, and workers could be subjected to direct benzene exposure for many hours a day.
The news of benzene in gas surprised gas station attendant Alan Twigg who works at Sequential Biofuels in Eugene. "It's always something I think about," he says.
Oregon's benzene levels also surprised officials at Oregon's Occupational Safety & Health Administration.
"I wasn't aware of it, no," says manager Penny Wolf McCormick, "and it causes us a lot of concern."
O.S.H.A.'s job is to protect workers. The state reports as of last month at least 10,900 people worked at gas stations in Oregon.
In 1987 federal O.S.H.A. set limits to protect workers from benzene. But there's a loophole. It specifically did not apply the limits to gas stations.
O.S.H.A. excluded gas stations at the urging of the American Petroleum Association and based its decision on several scientific studies at the time that found only low levels of benzene fumes at gas stations.
More recent studies have muddied the picture.
"The data we have been looking at is really all over the board right now," says McCormick. "Some would indicate the levels are pretty low, some would indicate they're above the permissible exposure levels."
She says Oregon O.S.H.A. wants to do new studies, specifically in Oregon, to gauge the level of risk here.
From Eugene, the Oregon Toxics Alliance has been urging the state Department of Environmental Quality for months to adopt another benzene related rule.
It wants mandatory vapor capture at the time tankers re-fill gas stations' underground storage tanks. Fumes are known to escape during this operation.
Vapor recovery during tank re-filling is already required in Portland, Salem and Medford. But the rules are not in place statewide. The limited restrictions were put in place years ago as
an ozone and smog control mechanism, but only in the cities with more frequent smog problems.
Oregon DEQ officials say they are interested in spreading vapor recovery statewide but remain unsure whether to do it through voluntary means or make it mandatory.
One company has partnered with the Oregon Toxics Alliance voluntarily. Tyree Oil, a major supplier in Southern Oregon, has agreed to fit all hits fuel trucks with the ability to capture the dangerous fumes.
The O.T.A. is also concerned about a recent study from France found increased cases of childhood leukemia in neighborhoods immediately next to gas stations. O.T.A. Executive Director Lisa Arkin says, "We're very concerned about children's health in particular."
While OSHA and DEQ explore studies and new regulations, there are steps individuals can take to minimize their exposure to benzene.
Gas station attendants are urged to:
- Wear Gloves
- Rotate shifts to minimize time by the pumps
- Do not top off tanks
The O.T.A. has been distributing stickers for automobiles which say "Do Not Top Off!" to discourage the common practice which often results in vapors escaping the built in fume-control systems on new cars.
As Arkin says, "We're not recommending gas station attendants not work. We're recommending that they work in a safer environment."