No Benzene Violations From CITGO Refinery: Romeoville

ROMEOVILLE, IL — After nearby residents expressed concerns about the air quality in Romeoville and Lemont, Romeoville Village Manage Dawn Caldwell gave a statement at Wednesday's Romeoville Village Board meeting.

Caldwell said the Village was made aware of monitoring data from CITGO, specifically related to benzene.

Residents at the meeting asked for a public notification system when there is a benzene emission above certain levels, or for a third-party fence line monitoring system.

"Upon receiving that information [about benzene emissions], I did contact CITGO, as well as the Illinois EPA," Caldwell said.

"The IEPA did confirm, according to their monitoring, there has been no violations related to benzene at the [monitoring] source," Caldwell said. "We definitely appreciate the residents' concerns, and the Lemont residents."

The CITGO Lemont refinery manufactures several grades of gasoline, diesel, jet fuel and high-quality hydrocarbon solvents. As part of its operations, CITGO does produce benzene, which has been an area of concern for residents.

According to the American Cancer Society, benzene is a carcinogen that is a "natural part of crude oil and gasoline (and therefore motor vehicle exhaust) as well as cigarette smoke."

According to the EPA, chronic inhalation exposure to benzene has caused various disorders in the blood, including reduced numbers of red blood cells and aplastic anemia, in occupational settings. "An increased incidence of leukemia has also been observed in humans occupationally exposed to benzene," the EPA website states.

Mayor John Noak said he "strongly encouraged" concerned residents to speak with state representatives in the area, since this is a regulatory issue at the state and federal level.

"I've already relayed that there is a potential concern to one of the state representatives who represents the area," Noak said.

Caldwell added that there is a "pretty extensive" notification system already in place. IEMA is the agency who sends out notifications out to the surrounding towns.

The Village of Lemont has said that CITGO representatives will attend and address concerns at the Lemont Environmental Commission meeting at 7 p.m. on Nov. 20 at Lemont Village Hall.

CITGO itself has also responded to resident concerns in a statement to Patch.

"The CITGO Lemont Refinery has been part of the local community for 99 years," Lemont Refinery's Public Affairs Manager Jen Hannon said. "As a good neighbor, our operations are guided by our underlying values – we live and work here too. That’s why it’s important to understand the real data and facts surrounding our operations."