Environmental Integrity Project report says biofuel manufacturing plants pollute nearly as much as oil refineries

In Washington, biofuel manufacturing plants release almost as much hazardous air pollution as oil refineries – and more of some dangerous pollutants, according to a study by the Environmental Integrity Project (EIP).

These pollutants from ethanol, biodiesel and “renewable diesel” manufacturing plants include formaldehyde (a carcinogen), acetaldehyde (a probable carcinogen), hexane (which can attack the central nervous system and cause dizziness, nausea, and headaches) and acrolein (which can cause nausea, vomiting, diarrhea, lung and eye irritation, and shortness of breath).

The result of these hazardous emissions is that some rural Midwestern communities in Iowa, Illinois, and elsewhere suffer from unhealthy air quality despite having no significant pollution sources around them, other than the smokestacks of ethanol refineries, according to EIP’s new report, “Farm to Fumes: Hazardous Air Pollution from Biofuel Production.”